Divergence
by Above the Winter Moonlight
Summary: In the wake of the Demon Emperor's fall, tragedy strikes and a white knight loses what little he had left. Thrust back in time and armed with more than just knowledge of the future, Suzaku Kururugi sets out to change the future. However, sometimes, fate cannot be avoided. Very AU. ON HIATUS/REWRITE IN THE WORKS
1. Stage 01: The White Knight Reawakens

_**Disclaimer:**_ _I do not own Code Geass. The only things that I own are my OCs. I will only say this once so I will not repeat it in later chapters._

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 **Divergence**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 _A young masked man wandered amidst a throne room stained with blood and filled with bodies riddled with bullets._

 _Blood flowed freely from the wound in his side._

 _Friends and former enemies alike lay in puddles of their own blood._

 _He cried softly, weakly, to himself when he saw his friends, their names passing in whispers from his lips._

 _Gino…_

 _Anya…_

 _Kallen…_

 _Nunnally…_

 _It had all been in vain. Lelouch's sacrifice had been in vain. The gentler, peaceful world that he had died—had been killed by the young masked man—to create was destroyed, bathed in the blood of the innocent._

 _Everyone the young masked man had left had been taken from him._

 _He was alone, would die alone, in a bloodstained throne room with a single bloodstained crane in his hand._

 _"Do you desire the chance to prevent this?"_

 _He didn't recognize the voice. He had no clue where it was coming from, he only knew that he was no longer in the bloodstained throne room._

 _"I have a proposal for you."_

 _He gazed around and recognized where he was._

 _The ruins of the Sword of Akasha._

 _"I will send you back in time and grant you a power, a Geass, that shall aid you in your quest to prevent this tragedy and, in turn, you shall help the one who saved my life reach his full potential. You shall be his voice of reason. You will learn everything about your mission at a later date should you choose to accept."_

 _It sounded too good to be true._

 _"It will not be an easy task but you will get the chance to save everyone who lost their lives and, with the help of the one to whom I owe a debt, create the future that should have been created had it not been for that twist of fate."_

 _This person was the one that Lelouch had saved when he destroyed the Ragnarok Connection. But twist of fate? Was that what caused this tragedy?_

 _"Yes, I am known as the Divine, though others have called me by many other names. And, yes, indeed, though I shall not tell you of what that twist was. However, it is your decision."_

 _Could he do it? Could he really prevent this tragedy from happening? Could he prevent the People United Against Britannia from taking from him everyone he had left that he actually cared about?_

 _Could he really help to turn the dream that both he and Lelouch shared into reality?_

 _"You would not have been chosen had all of us not had faith in you, and in the one whom saved me. Together, you two can do anything."_

 _It was too good an opportunity to give up, though the power, the Geass, was worrisome._

 _"Relax. It shall only be an informational one and will not harm anyone that it is used on."_

 _That made some of the worry go away. Should he accept? Could he really give up such an opportunity?_

 _"Kururugi Suzaku, what is your decision?"_

 _The young masked man lifted his gaze to the sky and stated, in a clear voice, "I accept."_

 **. . .**

 **Stage 01**

 **The White Knight Reawakens**

Suzaku Kururugi woke up to the sound of someone shouting his name. Blinking blearily as he attempted to figure out where he was and what just happened, he sat up, looked around and saw the familiar dark-blue haired form of Kenji Sato, his former bunkmate and one of his friends from when he had been a private of the Britannian Army. Suzaku blinked as the memory of everything that happened came back into his mind, his talk with the Divine being on the forefronts.

 _So he sent me back to before the massacre at the Shinjuku Ghetto,_ Suzaku realized since he knew that Kenji had been one of the causalities of the massacre back then.

"C'mon, Suzaku. The captain wants us to be in the briefing room in fifteen minutes," Kenji said, leaning back when he saw that Suzaku was awake physically, even if his mind was still attempting to catch up with the rest of his body. After all, it wasn't every day that one found themselves two years in the past.

"Go on ahead, Kenji, I'll be right behind you," Suzaku assured his bunkmate.

"All right. Don't be late," Kenji said.

"When am I ever late?"

"True, the model Honorary Britannian are you," Kenji said with a smirk that showed he wasn't being serious before he turned around and walked out of the barracks.

Suzaku slowly climbed out of bed and shuffled toward the washroom. He had fifteen minutes and he needed that time to gather his thoughts and get his feelings under control. Once he was in the washroom, he splashed some water on his face and gazed at himself in the mirror.

Cold, haunted green eyes stared back at him.

The future that Suzaku came from had scarred him. Not just what happened with Lelouch but everything he had done as well had left a deep scar upon his spirit. He wasn't the same idealistic soldier that he had been last time; too much had happened for him to keep hold of his naïve ideals.

The mission to find the canister of poison gas that the terrorists had stolen was what that briefing was about. He knew that it didn't really contain poison gas but also knew to keep that to himself. The last thing he needed was for the wrong person to know he knew more than he was supposed to; that was going to be the case for a lot of things that were to come.

Since he wasn't the engineer behind a lot of events that he was hoping to change, Suzaku would have to become more subtle in his changes. How he was supposed to become a certain exiled prince's voice of reason was also another problem he would have to solve and soon. Even if it was obvious what he was supposed to do, just how he would do that was the actual problem.

Shutting off the water and drying his face, Suzaku left the barracks and headed toward the briefing room. Kenji glanced at him with a smile when Suzaku came to a stop by him. "Model Honorary Britannian," he teased.

"Haha," Suzaku said a faint smile in return. Kenji was probably one of the few friends that Suzaku had among his division, and it had hurt when he found out Kenji had died, though he hadn't had time to grieve due to the incident with the purists that had followed. Unlike Suzaku, Kenji only joined the Britannian Army after applying to be an Honorary Britannian to keep his younger brother safe, though he knew his parents weren't exactly happy with his decision.

The captain entered the briefing room at that moment. "Your orders are thus," he began. "In the Shinjuku Ghetto, there is a canister of poison gas stolen by the terrorists. You are to go find it and, once you do, you will do nothing more than contact us right away. You have been chosen because, as Numbers, you know the Shinjuku Ghetto better than anyone. Dismissed!"

The Honorary Britannians saluted and immediately set out as they were ordered. Suzaku found himself walking alongside Kenji, much like last time, as they headed toward the ghetto. He already knew where to head but he didn't want to drag Kenji into the incident.

"Let's split up," he suggested to Kenji, deciding that he couldn't delay the meeting with Lelouch, even if the vivid image of the last time he saw his old friend still clung like a cobweb to the forefronts of his mind. Besides, it would be better if he met up with Lelouch anyway as the others would mistake him for a terrorist.

"You sure?" Kenji asked.

"Yeah. I'll go toward the old subway tunnel," Suzaku said.

"All right. Good luck and don't get yourself killed," Kenji said.

"You too," Suzaku said and the two bunkmates parted ways.

 **. . .**

As he walked, Suzaku found his thoughts straying, specifically to the power the Divine had granted him. That was the only thing that the Divine told him that he didn't understand. The Divine had only said that it was an informational one and that it was a Geass but he hadn't said anything on what it did.

 _I should figure that out soon,_ Suzaku thought as he rounded a corner and spotted the crashed truck laying nearby. _But I'll do that later._ He approached the truck, taking a deep breath, and opening it.

His eyes landed on Lelouch, his best friend and yet the worst enemy the entire world had ever seen, who was crouched by the large canister of gas. Suzaku pushed the memory of the Zero Requiem out of his mind; it hadn't happened yet and, if Suzaku had anything to say about it, it wouldn't have to happen. That didn't stop him from, once again, witnessing the last time he had seen Lelouch, remembering his last words to his old friend— _"This Geass I do solemnly accept"_ —, watching his old friend die with a smile on his face, and hearing Nunnally's heart-wrenching scream of deep agony.

He barely noticed that Lelouch had just asked him a question.

"Lelouch, it's me," he said, once he was sure he was in control of his emotions though his voice sounded a bit strained, and he removed his helmet.

Lelouch's violet eyes went wide with surprise. "Suzaku?" he echoed. "You joined the Britannian Army?"

Suzaku nodded but said nothing more.

"Do you know what this is?" Lelouch asked, apparently deciding against questioning why Suzaku was part of the army. He gestured to the gas canister. "I certainly don't. I just got dragged into this mess on accident."

"We were told it was poison gas during the briefing," Suzaku said.

"Poison gas? No doubt it was made by the Britannians," Lelouch said, the hatred deep in his voice.

"We should get out of here, Lelouch," Suzaku began but stopped when the gas canister suddenly began opening; pressure valves were released and the canister opened like a flower, revealing the green-haired form of C.C. dressed in her white straightjacket with eyes that suggested she wasn't entirely conscious.

Lelouch stared. "That's not poison gas," he said and darted over to the girl, starting to try to help her get free.

Suzaku bit his lip as he thought about what to do. On one hand, he could let things play out as they did last time; while he would end up getting shot, he would get to pilot the _Lancelot_ again and both Lelouch and C.C. would end up safe. Suzaku still didn't entirely trust C.C. but he knew that, once C.C. granted Lelouch his Geass, she would be very much invested in keeping him alive. On the other hand, if he got Lelouch and C.C. out of there, he might be able to prevent Lelouch from gaining the Geass that caused a lot of problems in the future.

"Suzaku, help," Lelouch called.

Suzaku pulled himself from his thoughts and darted over to help C.C., his mind weighing the pros and cons of each decision. While he was leaning towards the second, he didn't know whether that would stop C.C. from granting Lelouch his Geass.

"Are you okay?" Lelouch asked, undoing another strap from C.C.'s straightjacket.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine, just a lot on my mind," Suzaku said.

"Mm." Between the two of them, they managed to get C.C. somewhat free and guided her out of the truck.

Just then, the Royal Guard decided to show up. Suzaku decided that he would just let things play out as they had last time; he didn't have a choice now. He knew he couldn't warn Lelouch about the massacre because the former prince would want to know how he knew that. He was an Honorary Britannian after all; he wasn't supposed to be privileged with knowledge of what Prince Clovis was planning on doing.

"You stupid monkey!" The Royal Guard exclaimed. "Being an Honorary Britannian will not excuse you."

"Sir, we were told it was poison gas," Suzaku said, standing up and turning to face the Royal Guard and his men while Lelouch helped C.C. into a seating position.

"Are you questioning orders, Private?" the Royal Guard demanded, moving forward to stand in front of Suzaku.

"No, sir," the time traveler said.

"Good. Now then, in light of your amazing accomplishment, I'll be lenient. Private Kururugi, take this and kill the terrorist," the Royal Guard ordered, holding out his gun toward Suzaku.

Suzaku shook his head. "He's not a terrorist. He's just an innocent civilian caught up in this mess," he said.

"Are you questioning orders again, Private?" the Royal Guard growled, looking irritated.

"No sir but I won't kill an innocent civilian," Suzaku said.

 _And yet you were all too willing to fire the F.L.E.I.J.A. that destroyed the majority of the Tokyo Settlement._

The brunet firmly pushed that particular thought out of his mind.

"Very well," the Royal Guard said and fired the gun.

"Suzaku!" was the last thing Suzaku heard before the pain and darkness overwhelmed him.

 **. . .**

Suzaku didn't know how much time had passed by before he stirred. His entire side was laced with pain, making it impossible for him to remain asleep. Eyes fluttering open, he found himself in a familiar medical room; this was the A.S.E.E.C's base, he knew, and this was also the point when he met Lloyd and Cecile.

While Lloyd was an eccentric sociopath who cared about no one except his projects, the _Lancelot_ in particular, Cecile had been like a big sister, perhaps even motherly figure, to Suzaku while he was staying with them. They were the ones who actually supported him when he had been arrested on the false charge of murdering Prince Clovis—which Suzaku was sure was going to happen again since he had no doubt Lelouch would still commit regicide—and had even offered to testify during the court martial.

Lloyd had only done it because Suzaku was the only pilot who could pilot the _Lancelot_ as well as he had and Suzaku figured Cecile had done it because she didn't think it was fair of him to be charged, especially when he had an alibi.

Right now, the medical room was empty. He had woken up sooner than the first time around. Slowly sitting up and wincing at the pain in his side, Suzaku gazed around, wondering what exactly he could do now while he waited for Lloyd and Cecile to show up.

 _I suppose I should try to figure out what that Geass the Divine gave me is,_ Suzaku thought. The Divine had assured him that it was informational and wouldn't hurt anyone but he was still a bit hesitant about tapping into that kind of power.

After all, it was Geass that had been the cause of the majority of the tragedies and problems that occurred in what Suzaku was now going to refer to as the old timeline.

He decided that he may as well use it. It wasn't that hard to activate his Geass. It was almost as if the Divine had included information on how to activate and deactivate the power when it had been given to him. He did wonder why he wasn't told what the power did though.

He felt the uncomfortable, but not overtly painful, burning sensation in the back of his left eye and the glowing red bird-like symbol of Geass appeared around his left pupil. At that moment, the door open and a doctor walked into the room, looking at clipboard. Suzaku blinked at the golden number that was suddenly floating above the doctor's head surrounded by golden flames: _10,950._

When the doctor looked at him, Suzaku was quick to deactivate his Geass. The last thing he wanted was for the doctor to question him about it. He knew, based on what happened when Lelouch's Geass went out of control, that everyone could see it. While Lelouch's power erased the memory of what happened slightly before and during when he used it, Suzaku doubted his did the same.

 _But what kind of information is it trying to tell me?_

"Good evening, Private Kururugi," the doctor greeted him. "How do you feel?"

"My side still hurts," Suzaku admitted.

"It'll take time for the wound to heal fully but you'll make a complete recovery," the doctor said and turned around before walking out of the room.

Suzaku laid back down, musing that things were already a little different than the last time but not by much. _I suspect that small things will be different. The whole Butterfly Effect thing. I mean, me being sent back in time will probably cause some small changes, I think anyway. I don't really understand this whole time traveling thing,_ he thought.

The door slide open and Lloyd and Cecile made their way into the room, the former smiling while the latter looked concerned.

"So are we having a bad day, Private?" Lloyd said with a grin. "Looks like you missed your chance to go to Heaven."

"Are we still in the Shinjuku Ghetto?" Suzaku asked. He doubted that had changed but he just wanted to make sure.

"Sure are," Lloyd said.

"We're near Prince Clovis's command center. There isn't a safer place to be," Cecile said. She then reached over to where a broken pocketwatch was resting on the table next to his bed. "This is what saved your life, Private Kururugi," she added, holding it up.

"You're lucky it was under your protective suit because that's what deflected the bullet," Lloyd added while Suzaku took the pocketwatch and turned it over a few times in his hand.

"Is it a keepsake?" Cecile asked.

"You could say that," Suzaku murmured, his mind drifting back to the day he killed his father, staining his hands with the blood of the man who sired him just to stop the do-or-die resistance that his father had been about to call. It didn't matter in the end because many Japanese still lost their lives, though he supposed the causalities weren't as high as they could have been.

"You Elevens believe that gods live inside of everything, even objects, don't you? I guess this one…" Lloyd began.

"So what's the situation?" Suzaku interrupted.

"The poison gas was released and there have been massive Eleven causalities," said Lloyd.

"They haven't caught the perpetrators yet," Cecile added.

Suzaku wasn't surprised. He didn't know everything about what happened the last time but he did know that Lelouch had, somehow, been behind the victory here for the current terrorists.

Lloyd suddenly gained an eager look on his face. "Private Kururugi, how much experience do you have piloting a Knightmare Frame?" he asked.

"Not much but they won't make me a knight," Suzaku reminded the sociopathic scientist.

"Well, supposing you could? Congratulations, the only knightmare of its kind awaits you!" Lloyd said cheerfully. "Once you've taken the controls of this big beauty, everything will change; you and your world."

"Whether you want it to or not," Cecile added.

 _It already has_ , Suzaku thought.

"For now, why don't you get some rest?" Cecile suggested. "Prince Clovis hasn't given Lloyd clearance to launch his newest project anyway."

"I don't see why not though," Lloyd whined. "I mean, really? How else am I going to get battle data on my _Lancelot_ if it doesn't see battle?" He began mumbling under his breath, his brow furrowed in irritation.

"Don't mind him," Cecile assured Suzaku. "He gets that way when it comes to the _Lancelot_."

Suzaku knew that well enough. He turned the pocketwatch over in his hand again before placing it on the medical bed beside him, laying back down and gazing up at the ceiling.

He didn't know how long he had remained silent, listening to Lloyd continue to mumble about the unfairness of the situation, when a technician came rushing into the medical room. "Sir, Prince Clovis wishes to speak to you," he said.

"Finally!" Lloyd darted out of the room.

"I suppose he's getting his wish, huh?" Suzaku said with a faint smile at Cecile who had watched Lloyd leave in exasperation.

"Probably," Cecile said and turned to Suzaku as he sat up, swinging his legs off the medical bed and wincing, one hand going to his side. "Try not to overexert yourself."

"I will," Suzaku said.

Lloyd came running back in, a look of sheer joy on his face. "Get ready to get suited up, Private Kururugi and read the manual! You're launching in twenty minutes. Cecile, let's run a preliminary check while we're waiting," he said and handed the manual that he was holding to Suzaku.

"All right," Cecile said and they both left the medical room while Suzaku briefly flipped through the manual, though he already knew how to pilot the _Lancelot_ and everything he needed to know about it. He had been piloting the _Lancelot_ for so long, along with its upgraded versions, that it had become practically ingrained in him.

Cecile came back into the medical room ten minutes later and handed him the white pilot suit as well as a headset and microphone and the activation key. "Ten minutes," she said.

Suzaku nodded and waited until the indigo-blue haired woman left before he put on the headset and changed into the pilot suit, wincing whenever he bent down.

 _Z-01 Lancelot now activating. Lancelot activating. Releasing hatch. Z-01 Lancelot standby for activation. Pallet extension initiating._

Suzaku zipped up the pilot suit and headed toward the entrance as Cecile's voice sounded over the headset. " _Did you read the manual?_ " she asked.

"More or less," Suzaku replied as he made his way down the hall and out of the A.S.E.E.C's mobile base.

" _Well done. You scored at the top of the class in the simulator,_ " Cecile said. " _Just remember, you're not to do anything reckless. The new system is not outfitted with an ejection mechanism._ "

"Understood," Suzaku said, walking over to where the _Lancelot_ was covered in a tarp as it was pulled away to reveal the white-and-gold Knightmare Frame that Suzaku had, though he wouldn't admit it out loud, grown a bit attached to.

Cecile and Lloyd were focusing on the startup sequence as Suzaku made his way to the top of the Knightmare Frame and jumped into the pilot's chair, one hand already holding the activation key, and entered the _Lancelot_. Once the seat was secure and the hatch was closed, he inserted the activation key and the screens lit up.

Suzaku inputted the proper authorization startup code and grabbed the controls, entering the proper position for launch, the landspinners unfolding and landing on the ground behind him.

"Lancelot, M.E. boost," Suzaku ordered.

" _Lancelot, LAUNCH!_ " Cecile called.

Suzaku immediately thrust the controls forward, going full throttle, and the _Lancelot_ shot forward so rapidly, it conjured up a powerful gust of wind that probably nearly knocked anyone behind it to the ground.

 **. . .**

As he sped throughout the Shinjuku Ghetto, searching for the terrorists he was supposed to be fighting, Suzaku found himself wonder just where Lelouch had been throughout all of this. Was it possible that the Sutherland he had encountered, and had accused of being the leader of the terrorists, had really been Lelouch? It was possible, actually very probable now that Suzaku thought about it.

He decided that he would leave his old friend alone for the time being and focus on destroying the Sutherlands that Lelouch had given to the current terrorists. As usual, he focused on not taking their lives and simply forced them to eject. Even if he did have the blood of innocents on his hand—memories of when he fired the F.L.E.I.J.A. unfortunately entered his mind; whether he was under the influence of a Geass command or not, he still felt guilty about that—he was not about to add to the already large number of causalities he had caused.

Taking out the Sutherlands wasn't quite that hard but then Suzaku hadn't expected it to be. These future Black Knights were okay fighters at the moment but Suzaku did have the advantage of knowing the majority if not all of the abilities and techniques that the _Lancelot_ could do. He used his Slash Harkens to take out Sutherlands that were firing at him from afar, while his Blaze Luminous shield was blocking the bullets, and then glided forward before slamming a landspinner into the face of another Sutherland.

One by one, each stolen Sutherland that Suzaku came into contact with fell and ejection pods were sent flying in all directions. Just then, he quickly moved his shield in front of him to block the hail of fire from the one-armed red Glasgow that had suddenly appeared.

 _Kallen_. Suzaku gripped the controls of the _Lancelot_ tightly as he forced himself not to think about the last time he had seen Kallen; the young Ace of the Black Knights laying in a pool of her own blood…

Suzaku shoved the memory aside and focused on keeping Kallen off his back. His Knightmare was fast, faster than the Glasgow, but that hadn't stopped Kallen from keeping up with him until he managed to get in enough shots to force her to retreat with the Glasgow in relatively one piece.

The adrenaline that always seemed to wash over him when he was in a Knightmare battle was starting to fade and the pain from the bullet wound in his side was beginning to flare up again. He winced, grasping his side, as Cecile's image appeared on the screen in front of him.

" _I think that's good enough. You should head back,_ " she said.

"I can go on for a while longer," Suzaku said, trying to keep the pain out of his voice.

" _There don't seem to be any enemies left to fight,_ " Cecile said. " _Or anyone for that matter in your area._ "

Suzaku's lips pressed together, already knowing that meant civilians as well. The fact that he hadn't seen any civilians since he entered into the fray suggested that they hadn't survived the onslaught.

He wondered if he should warn Cecile and Lloyd about Lelouch's plan. While he didn't approve of the methods, Lelouch forcing his brother to issue the ceasefire and having both the Britannians and the Japanese be cared for without discrimination was a good move. The murder that followed though was something Suzaku didn't approve of.

He decided against it. It wasn't as if it would work. Even if they believed him, Suzaku was sure that Lelouch had his Geass ability and would be able to use it to still get away with killing Clovis.

" _Attention, all forces! Cease fire at once?_ " Clovis's voice echoed around the ghetto. " _I, Clovis, third prince of Britannia and royal viceroy of Area Eleven, hereby command you; all forces are ordered to cease fire at once. You are also to cease destruction of any buildings or property. All casualties, whether Britannian or Eleven, shall be treated equally and without prejudice. In the name of Clovis la Britannia, you are hereby ordered; cease fire at once. I shall allow no further fighting._ "

He straightened out the _Lancelot_ and glanced toward the G1 Mobile Base briefly before shaking his head, knowing there was nothing he could do and headed back to the A.S.E.E.C.'s base.

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Blaze: and here is the first chapter of my brand-new** _ **Code Geass**_ **fic. It has already been finished but I am editing each chapter, and rewriting portions and the like, before I post it.**

 **Bakura: yeah, yeah, whatever. You're just scared no one will like your story**

 **Blaze: …shut up, Bakura, and this isn't even your fandom**

 **Bakura: and when has that mattered to you?**

 **Blaze: eh, true. I don't own** _ **Yu-Gi-Oh!**_ **by the way**

 **Lelouch: so this was basically the first and second episode entirely from Suzaku's POV?**

 **Blaze: yup and that's why it's rather short. Trust me, upcoming chapters will get longer (especially when we get closer to the end).**

 **Suzaku: interesting look into my mindset, though you didn't go into detail about what happened in that prologue**

 **Blaze: I did that on purpose. It's explained throughout the entire story and I didn't want to dump all the info at the beginning and then have it spread out throughout the entire story. I had to choose one or the other and I chose the other. That's the main reason why I took out the original prologue I had written. I'm forgetting something...**

 **Lelouch: you had warnings you needed to give out, remember?**

 **Blaze: oh, yeah, right. Okay, Warning Number 1: This is set in an Alternate Universe and an Alternate Timeline (and, yes, I said that second one because that actually plays a huge role in the plot)**

 **Suzaku: Warning Number 2: This story is what Blaze likes to call non-canon compliant. This means, to her, that while she does follow canon pretty closely, she basically changes every event of the canon timeline; some changes are extremely minor but others (coughSAZ incidentcough) are extremely major.**

 **Lelouch: Warning Number 3: There are OCs in this story and Blaze has done her best to really make these OCs into rounded characters, especially two specific ones who are extremely important. In the edited version of this story, she will probably expand on the OC characters to help make them more complex and rounded.**

 **Bakura: …**

 **Blaze: read the damn paper or I will take away your knives**

 **Bakura: fine. Warning Number 4: This story has more of a supernatural view on the masterpiece that is** _ **Code Geass**_ **, meaning that it will expand upon the supernatural aspect of the anime a bit.**

 **Yami: (appears out of nowhere and startles the shit out of Bakura) Warning Number 5: Blaze will try her hardest to keep all the canon characters in character for as long as possible but, due to the changing of the storyline and the changing of events and the like, the characters may end up developing differently from in the anime.**

 **Bakura:** _ **where the hell did you come from?!**_

 **Yami: (with a straight face) through the door**

 **Bakura: smartass Pharaoh. Is that all the warnings?**

 **Blaze: all that I can think of at the moment. I probably have more but I can't think of them now so I'll just post them in later chapters when I do remember them. I do hope that you enjoy my first attempt at a** _ **Code Geass**_ **fanfic and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**


	2. Stage 02: Fall of a Prince

**Eight reviews in one chapter? Cool. I'm glad that you're liking this story and, while there are only minor changes at the moment, there will be many** _ **major**_ **changes in upcoming chapters, especially when we get near the end.**

 **Thank you to** _ **Shadow-Shinobi666, Demons Anarchy of Pride, Yagami Kari Hikari, yuuram2fangirl, Can'tPickAName, Dragon Silhouette, northernlion196,**_ **and** _ **Shimmering-Sky**_ **for reviewing the first chapter. You guys are great.**

 **I hope that you enjoy this chapter, even if it isn't much different from the actual episode. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 _He hated sleepless nights._

 _The palace was quiet, silent like a tomb, and the only ones who were also awake were the guards but they were quiet and simply inclined their heads in greeting when he walked past them, cloak billowing about his feet._

 _He had managed to get some sleep but then the nightmares came, jerking him out of his peaceful rest and he has been unable to sleep since then._

 _Ever since Euphie's murder, he has always had a hard time sleeping. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her murder flash before his eyes._

 _And he saw the person responsible for it._

 _Zero._

 _Lelouch vi Britannia, the current Demon Emperor of Britannia._

 _The Zero Requiem had begun and, when he thought about how the Zero Requiem would end, he had to steel himself. So he thought about Euphie and everyone else that had died because of Lelouch in the hope that it would help him fulfill his part of the final stage of the plan._

 _Because, despite his anger towards Lelouch, he couldn't find it in himself to hate his oldest and best friend anymore._

 _Especially now that he knew that Euphie's death had not been on purpose._

 _He was joined by the one he was thinking about._

 _"You're still up?"_

 _"You are too."_

 _"Couldn't sleep."_

 _"Same here."_

 _They fell silent, enjoying the tranquil night in the gardens that his feet had subconsciously brought him to._

 _He broke that silence._

" _Will this plan work?"_

" _I'm sure it will."_

" _And if it doesn't?"_

" _It has to work. If all the world's hatred is focused on me, my death should put an end to that hatred."_

" _It won't last forever."_

" _But it will give the world and its people the chance to start rebuilding."_

 _He hoped that the plan would work then, even if he didn't completely like the thought of killing his best friend. But if it was for the sake of peace and a chance to rebuild then he would do it._

 **. . .**

 **Stage 02**

 **Fall of a Prince**

Lelouch vi Britannia twirled the black King chess piece in between his fingers as he watched the battle that was occurring throughout the Shinjuku Ghetto. Most of the fighting he couldn't see and only knew about due to the map on the screen of the stolen Sutherland he had taken refuge in. He had to admit that the terrorists he was working with were good, especially the girl in the one-armed Glasgow that he had nicknamed Q1. They were able to take out quite a large chunk of Clovis's forces, especially now that they were able to fight back on somewhat more even terms due to the Sutherlands that Lelouch had 'given' them.

He narrowed his eyes when he noticed movement around Clovis's command center. "He's breaking the encirclement around him. Clovis, Clovis, Clovis—that is by far the stupidest move you could have made." _But it also gives me the perfect opportunity to get close to him, the Geass that odd green-haired woman gave me should take care of anything else that gets in my way,_ he thought.

He reached for the comm and flicked it on. "Q1, do you have an area map?" he asked.

" _Yes. I have a map of the old town but it has none of the current landmarks,_ " Q1 replied.

"It'll do," Lelouch said and then ordered the terrorists to head toward the subways and force the Britannians to follow them and they did. He then ordered the terrorists to fire their Slash Harkens at the ceiling in front of them, causing it to cave in, destroying all the Sutherlands that had been above.

"With this, I call check," Lelouch said with a grin, placing the King chess piece in front of him. "I can do it! With this power, I can destroy Britannia!" He chuckled.

That was, until, the newest piece to the board suddenly made its appearance. B1 was the one who reported it; a white-and-gold Knightmare Frame who had taken out all of the Sutherlands that had attacked it.

" _And it's only one unit,_ " B1 exclaimed.

"Impossible! How could one unit do this much damage?" Lelouch hissed, narrowing his eyes as he tried to figure out just what was happening. One Knightmare was taking out the majority of his current allies, forcing him to redo his plans.

He needed to get to the G1 mobile base where his half-brother was and stop this fight.

" _This is Q1. I'm going to engage the new enemy,_ " Q1's voice sounded over the comm.

" _Be careful,_ " the young man that Lelouch had nicknamed P1 said.

" _I will,_ " Q1 said and Lelouch watched, on the map of the area, as Q1 engaged the new enemy near the heart of the ghetto.

Using that as a distraction, Lelouch guided his stolen Sutherland closer to the command center and, powering it down, left it and immediately headed toward the mobile base, but not before stealing himself a uniform.

"Stop there!" the soldier said, lifting his weapon. "Your ID. This is Prince Clovis's personal transport."

Lelouch locked eyes with the soldier. "Lelouch vi Britannia commands you: do as I say," he declared and the red bird-like sigil around his pupil began glowing around his eye; the soldier froze and then saluted, a ring of red around his eyes.

"Yes, sir," he said.

"Let me pass and forget you ever saw me," Lelouch said.

"Yes, sir."

Lelouch entered the mobile base, using his Geass on anyone that spotted him so that they would forget ever seeing him. He made his way down the hallway and noticed that Clovis's general, Bartley, was standing guard. He lifted his weapon, only to freeze when Lelouch used his Geass on him and ordered him to leave.

He then strode into his half-brother's room, staying to the shadows as Clovis straightened up.

"What is this? I told you that I was not to be disturbed," he exclaimed.

Lelouch activated his Geass again and ordered everyone that was in the room to vacate the premises and forget they ever saw him. Before long, the entire room was empty, leaving Clovis who had gotten to his feet, shouting at his guards and demanding to know where they were going.

Scowling, the blonde Viceroy turned his attention to the still shadowed Lelouch. "What do you want?" he demanded.

"I want you to order a cease fire and have all causalities, whether they be Japanese or Britannian, to be treated without prejudice," Lelouch ordered.

"And what if I don't?" Clovis sneered, only to freeze when Lelouch clicked the safety off the gun that he had taken along with the uniform and pointed it at him. "Okay, okay. Just…turn on the communication system for me and I'll do it."

Lelouch, keeping his gun trained on Clovis and sticking to the shadows, moved over to the communications system and turned it on.

Clovis gave the order for the ceasefire before turning his attention back to Lelouch. "Are you satisfied?" he asked.

"Very. Well done," Lelouch said.

"And what shall we do now? Sing a few lively ballads? Or perhaps a nice game of chess?"

Lelouch chuckled. "That has a familiar ring," he said.

"Hmm?"

"Don't you recall? The two of us used to play chess together as boys. Of course, I would always win."

"What?" Clovis sounded confused.

"Remember? At the Aries Villa?" Lelouch moved forward.

"You…who are you?"

Lelouch removed his helmet and came to a stop in front of Clovis. "It's been a long time, big brother," he said and knelt down. "The eldest son of the late consort Marianne, eleventh prince, and seventeenth in line to the imperial throne, Lelouch vi Britannia, at your service."

"L…Lelouch?" Clovis exclaimed, eyes wide with shock. "But…But I thought…"

"That I was dead?" Lelouch asked, lifting his head to fix cool, penetrating eyes on his older half-brother. "You were wrong. I have returned, Your Highness, and I've come back to change everything."

Clovis stood up, eyes wide with shock and then faint happiness as Lelouch stood up. "I'm overjoyed, Lelouch. They said you died when Japan was brought into the fold. What a blessing to have you back. We should depart for the homeland immediately," he said and then froze when Lelouch, his face darkening with fury, aimed the gun at him again.

"So you can use me as a tool for diplomacy again? It seems you've forgotten why we were used as tools in the first place." A cool sneer crossed Lelouch's lips as he added, "That's right. It was because my mother was killed. Mother held the title of Knight of Honor but was a commoner by birth. No doubt the other Imperial consorts held her in contempt. Even though you made it look like the work of terrorists, I'm no fool. You people killed my mother!"

"It wasn't me! I swear to you it wasn't!" Clovis cried in panic.

Lelouch locked eyes with his panicking brother. "Tell me everything you know, truthfully!" He ordered and, like with all the others he had used his new Geass on, a red ring appeared around Clovis's eyes as he relaxed.

"Who killed my mother?" Lelouch asked.

"I don't know," Clovis said monotonously.

"Who does know?"

"The second prince Schneizel and the second princess Cornelia can tell you," Clovis said.

Lelouch pressed his lips together with a frown. _So they're involved with this?_ He thought. He remembered that Cornelia had been the head of the Royal Guard that guarded his mother, and seem to idolize her, so he wasn't entirely sure if Cornelia really had anything to do with his mother's death. Schneizel, on the other hand, was someone that Lelouch did get along with, and was the only one that Lelouch could not beat at chess, but Lelouch couldn't figure out his motivation for killing Empress Marianne. He decided that he would think about it later.

"That's all you know, isn't it?" he murmured as he released Clovis from his control. The blonde Viceroy staggered back, looking confused before he glanced at Lelouch.

"I swear, it wasn't me! I had nothing to do with it," he said quickly.

 _So he doesn't remember being under the control of my Geass?_ Lelouch thought and filed the information away for later. "I believe you," he said and, as relief started to enter Clovis's eyes, he pointed his gun at his half-brother's forehead. "However…"

Terror crawled across Clovis's azure eyes. "Please, you can't!" he cried in panic. "We may have different mothers but you and I are still blood."

Lelouch shook his head. "You can't change the world without getting your hands dirty," he said and pulled the trigger.

 **. . .**

Suzaku returned to the barracks, exhausted and his side throbbing, his thoughts on his conversation with Lelouch in the Imperial Palace's gardens during that sleepless night they had both had one month before the final stage of the Zero Requiem in the old timeline. He pushed the memory out of his mind as he made his way through the almost completely empty barracks. Most, if not all, of the squad that had been sent on that mission hadn't returned.

His wound wasn't bleeding anymore, even if it still ached—he probably strained it while piloting the _Lancelot_ —and he knew that he should see a medic again to make sure the wound hadn't gotten worse.

"Suzaku!" A shout sounded and Suzaku looked up, surprised when the familiar blue-haired form of Kenji walked toward him. He knew that Kenji had been one of the ones killed in the old timeline and he had to wonder what allowed Kenji to survive this time around. Then he saw that Kenji's arm was in a sling and he was limping.

 _Must have gotten hurt and they thought he was dead so they left him alone. At least, that's what I think,_ he thought.

"Kenji," he greeted his bunkmate. "What happened?"

"Got pinned beneath some debris," Kenji said with a grimace. "Did you know that the Royal Guard were all killed?"

"They were?" Suzaku feigned surprise, though he already knew that and had a sinking feeling who was responsible.

"Yup. That's what I heard anyway but I'm glad to see you. I thought I was the only one who got out of there alive," Kenji said sincerely.

"Private Kururugi!"

Kenji and Suzaku turned and stood at attention, saluting, as their commanding officer walked over to join them.

"Yes, sir?" Suzaku said.

"You're being transferred to the Advanced Special Envoy Engineering Corps. You were requested personally by Director Lloyd Asplund," the commanding officer stated.

"Yes, sir."

The commanding officer turned on his heel and walked away.

"Why are you being transferred to the A.S.E.E.C.?" Kenji asked confused as he and Suzaku relaxed and the latter turned his attention to his bunkmate.

"I don't know," Suzaku lied, deciding that it would be better, for now, if no one knew that a Number was piloting a Knightmare Frame.

"Well, good luck then, Suzaku." Kenji said, his voice even as he held out a hand.

"Thank you. You too," Suzaku said, taking Kenji's hand and shaking it before he began gathering his meager belongings and, once he had gotten everything, he went returned to the A.S.E.E.C.'s mobile base.

 **. . .**

It was late by the time Lelouch got home. He didn't know just how to feel about killing Clovis. On one hand, Clovis had been behind the massacre that was committed at the Shinjuku Ghetto but, on the other, Lelouch could still remember how he and Clovis were when they were growing up. He remembered how Clovis used to love art and painting and how he had even taught Nunnally how to paint simple pictures before their exile.

Clovis was probably one of the few half-brothers out there that Lelouch actually liked at the time and yet the Clovis that Lelouch came into contact with today was different from the one he grew up with. He just couldn't see the Clovis he had known ordering a massacre of innocent people.

He pushed those thoughts out of his head. He had done the deed and there was no changing that now. He would just have to deal with the consequences of his actions later because he knew that there would be consequences. While no one knew Lelouch was the one who killed Clovis, that didn't mean that there wouldn't be a fallout.

Entering his home, he noticed that Sayoko was still up. The Japanese maid that had been working for Lelouch and Nunnally since they were taken in by the Ashfords seven years ago inclined her head in greeting. "Welcome home, Master Lelouch. Dinner is in the fridge. Mistress Nunnally tried to stay awake and wait for you but she was getting tired so I put her to bed."

"Thank you, Sayoko," Lelouch said and made his way into the kitchen. He wasn't feeling particularly hungry; his stomach churned at the thought of food, or perhaps that was just the feelings of guilt he felt.

He had actually murdered someone and that was not something that he could just walk away from without feeling something, especially since it had been his brother. He shoved all thoughts of that aside; if he wanted to destroy Britannia, he was going to have to deal with death and he needed to come to terms with death and killing others. War was coming and, in war, people were killed. That was just the way it was.

Lelouch forced himself to eat a little bit before he put the rest in the fridge and then went to check on Nunnally before he went to bed himself.

 **. . .**

The following day, Lelouch, who had started dozing during the Student Council meeting, was startled out of his sleep by a hard smack to the head by an irate Milly. "Wake up, Lelouch! I know you were sleeping. Your hands stopped moving," she said firmly.

"Well, you don't have to beat me up over it, do you?" he asked, rubbing his head.

"Ha, serves you right for ditching me like that," Rivalz, said, leaning over the conference room table where they had been working on the budget for the council.

"That's right. What was up with you yesterday?" Shirley demanded.

"Um, well…" Lelouch trailed off, unsure of how to explain.

"That's enough, you guys," Milly said and Lelouch felt grateful with her interruption. "Let's not get sidetracked here. If we don't come up with a fix for the club activities budget, there won't be money left for anything at all."

"And if it comes to that point…" Nina began quietly.

"The Equestrian Club will be pissed! We don't want 'em comin' in here on horseback," Rivalz said just as a guy on a horse rode past the window. Lelouch noticed but said nothing, his lips quirking slightly.

"Rivalz, can't you be a more serious student council member?" Milly huffed.

"You know, it would have been nice of you if you would have reminded us about this mess a day ago," Shirley said.

"I would have to say a day later. Then we would have given up," Rivalz said.

"We can still do that," Lelouch mused.

"Guts!" Milly shouted, causing her friends to jump and then glance at her.

"Are you trying that 'guts' spell again?" Rivalz asked dryly.

"Yeah, I want you people to start pulling your all into this," Milly said firmly.

"I really don't think that your magic's gonna do a whole lot," Lelouch admitted.

"Actually, it's got me going, Madam President," Shirley said.

Milly smirked. "Supple and willing, that's what I like," she said.

Shirley shrugged. "I train hard in the gymnastics club," she said.

"That's not what I was getting at. You're a ten."

"Huh?" Shirley looked bewildered.

"From what I've seen in the girls' bathroom anyway, you've been filling out in all the right places, huh?"

Rivalz leaned toward Shirley with a grin, eyeing her. "Heh, heh."

Shirley went red. "W…What? What are you talking about, you perv?!" She exclaimed, crossing her arms across her chest and glaring at Rivalz.

 **. . .**

Walking into the classroom, Lelouch spotted a short-red-haired girl seated with a bunch of girls standing around her. She looked exactly like the girl that Lelouch had seen enter the Glasgow during the incident in the Shinjuku Ghetto.

 _So you're a student, huh?_ He thought, clearing his face of emotion as he walked past the girl, whom he heard was called Kallen, and took his seat.

"Are you all right? Sophie's been worried sick all this time," one of the girls asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just have to go easy for a little while," Kallen said. "Anyway, if I stay home any longer, I'll never catch up."

Rivalz leaned toward Lelouch when he noticed that the black-haired young man was watching Kallen. "What's up, buddy? See something you like? You've got a thing for her, don't ya?"

Lelouch gave Rivalz an exasperated look. "I'm just thinking that this is a rare event. She hasn't been here at school since this term started," he said.

"Yup. Kallen Stadtfeld. They say she's sick or somethin', and she barely showed up at school last year either. Still, her grades are at the top of the class and she's a member of the Stadtfeld family, which means she's well-bred and rolling in money. Man, you sure know how to pick 'em."

Lelouch huffed. "It's not like that," he said.

"Ah, you don't have to hide it. A touch too sheltered though, if you ask me," Rivalz said.

Lelouch ignored that and went back to studying Kallen.

Later, at lunch, he watched from nearby as Kallen ate lunch with the rest of her friends, waiting for a moment to get her alone to figure out whether or not she was the same girl who had piloted that Glasgow, though he was almost sure she was. His chance came when a bee appeared and chased the rest of the girls away while Kallen, with an agile swipe of the hand, killed the bee.

"I don't get it, why is a bee after me? Hmm? I wonder if there's a hive nearby," Kallen said and then murmured, "God, I hate this! I'm sick of acting like a freakin' invalid." She then noticed Lelouch and swore under her breath.

 _There's no question it's her,_ Lelouch thought.

Kallen stood up and turned to face Lelouch. "Can I help you with something?" she asked.

Lelouch activated his Geass. "I want answers," he said as Kallen relaxed, her eyes glowing with the ring of red around the irises.

"Of course," she said monotonously.

"Where you the one piloting the Glasgow in Shinjuku?" Lelouch asked.

"Yes," Kallen said.

"Why terrorism?"

"Because I'm Japanese, though technically I'm half Britannian."

 _A half-breed?_ Lelouch broke eye contact with Kallen as he puzzled over the new information he had been given about Kallen. _But why go so far?_

"Um, did you want something?" Kallen asked confused.

"No, I got what I wanted here. Oh, wait, just to be sure,"—Lelouch locked eyes with Kallen—"Don't tell anyone about Shinjuku."

"What do you mean? About Shinjuku? Why would you say that?" Kallen demanded, looking startled.

 _It's not working?_ "Go back to class," Lelouch tried again.

"As soon as I get an answer to my question, I will," Kallen said, glaring at Lelouch stubbornly.

 _It's still not working? What's going on here?_ Lelouch thought puzzled.

"Hey, Lulu! Kallen! You know it's time to head over to the chem lab. You'd better get a move on," Shirley called, leaning out of a nearby window.

Lelouch used that as the perfect excuse to leave. "Damn, I was supposed to help set up for class. Gotta go," he said and darted off, still attempting to puzzle over why his Geass hadn't worked a second time on Kallen.

 **. . .**

Suzaku relaxed on his bed in his new quarters. Two days had gone by since the massacre at the Shinjuku Ghetto but it hadn't taken long for him to become accustomed again to his new surroundings. However, he knew that he was going to get arrested again soon, since he was positive that Gottwald will use him as a scapegoat again.

While they both served under Lelouch when he was Emperor, Suzaku and Gottwald got along pretty well but that was after Gottwald had been transformed into a cyborg and then given a Geass Canceller. Now, though, Gottwald was part of the Purist Faction.

Suzaku knew he would have to just go along with everything that happened in order to prevent the other Honorary Britannians from being unfairly persecuted, just as he had done last time. That meant that he was considering on rejecting Lelouch's offer to join him again, though not for the same reason as last time.

Even if he didn't quite approve of Lelouch's actions, he also knew that trying to change Britannia from within wouldn't work. He was no longer the naïve boy he was when this whole situation had started in the old timeline but that didn't mean he wanted to resort to terrorism. Even if Lelouch called it fighting for justice, Suzaku felt that, in some cases such as Narita, it amounted to the same thing.

 _I am supposed to be Lelouch's voice of reason. That's what the Divine said was my task. But just how am I supposed to do that? Am I supposed to join Lelouch or not?_ Suzaku wondered silently, his gaze fixed on the ceiling above his head. By joining Lelouch, he would be turning his back on Britannia but he would also be able to stay close to his old friend and, somehow, help him.

Sighing, Suzaku sat up and rubbed his head. Trying to figure out exactly what it was he was supposed to do was giving him a headache. He had thought his task was pretty straightforward but, when he finally actually sat down and thought about it, he realized it was much harder to explain than he had originally thought. Either that or it was obvious and he was just clueless.

He decided that he would think about that later and began thinking about the Geass that the Divine had given him. He had used it again on Cecile and Lloyd and had discovered that their numbers were different from that doctor's; Lloyd's was _7,750_ and Cecile's was _565_. But Suzaku still didn't know what those numbers were supposed to tell him. Just what did they represent?

He somehow knew that the power was called Absolute Fate and Suzaku had always associated fate with something that cannot be stopped, something that would happen no matter what. The only thing that Suzaku could think of that happened that no one could stop was death.

Suddenly, it hit him. _Could that be what my Geass is telling me? Those number have something to do with death? Could it be showing me how long someone has left to live?_ The more Suzaku thought about it, the more it made sense. And, considering how high the numbers were, Suzaku figured that he could assume that it meant days rather than years or weeks.

He knew that his theory was just that, a theory, and that the only way he could prove whether it was correct or not is if someone with the number zero above their heads suddenly died but, so far, Suzaku hadn't found anyone who was about to die, not that he wanted to or was actively looking for someone like that.

 _I suppose it's as good a guess as any but, until I can prove it, that's all it is, even if it does kinda make sense,_ Suzaku mused. At the very least, at least he had an idea of what his Geass could be showing him.

But that left him with the other persistent thought that was on his mind and that was his task involving Lelouch. _Voice of reason._ It sounded so simple and yet Suzaku just didn't know if it was that simple or if it was more complicated than it seemed. It certainly felt like it was more complicated than it seemed.

Suzaku's head started hurting and he pushed those thoughts away before swinging his legs off the bed and walking out of his quarters. Lloyd had given him free reign to wander around the base so long as he didn't mess with any of the machinery. Over the past few days, Suzaku mostly spent his time in the engineering room, watching Lloyd and Cecile and the technicians that worked for them work on the _Lancelot_.

Even after only a few days, Suzaku was extremely comfortable with Lloyd and Cecile and it hadn't taken him quite as long because he knew what to expect. They did bicker a lot but that was also something that Suzaku was used to.

"Oh, Suzaku," Cecile greeted Suzaku as he entered the engineering room. He also had gotten used to Cecile and Lloyd no longer referring to him as Private ever since he got transferred."I made some muffins. Do you want to try one?" She held out a plate of muffins that had what looked like raisins in them.

Lloyd was standing behind Cecile, rapidly gesturing him to not take one, and Suzaku knew why. While she did try her best, Cecile wasn't that great of a cook. "No, thank you, Cecile," he said. "I'm not very hungry right now."

"Oh." Cecile looked disappointed.

"Maybe Tom will want one," Lloyd suggested.

Cecile brightened up. "I'll go offer him one," she said and walked off to find Tom, one of the technicians.

"I almost feel sorry for Tom," Lloyd mused after Cecile walked out of earshot.

Suzaku raised an eyebrow at Lloyd, not believing him for a second. The guy was a sociopath, and freely admitted to being one, who didn't care about anyone unless they were directly connected with his pet project, like Suzaku. And even then, he only saw Suzaku as a 'devicer', someone who could pilot the _Lancelot_.

"Right, anyway, glad you're here. I want you to go inside the _Lancelot_. There are some things I want to check out with the systems," Lloyd said.

"Yes, sir," Suzaku said and, pulling out the activation key from his pocket, made his way into the hangar where the _Lancelot_ was parked. Once in the pilot seat and inside the _Lancelot_ , he inserted the activation key and he and Lloyd went to work.

Later, Suzaku was sitting in the engineering room, deep in thought, while Lloyd was working with the computers to install some updates into the _Lancelot's_ mainframe.

"You look like you have something on your mind," Cecile noted as she came to Suzaku's side.

"Just thinking," Suzaku said. "Was there something you needed, Miss Cecile?"

"Please, call me Cecile," Cecile said with a smile. "We're going to be working together from now on so we don't have to be so formal. And I was just wondering if you're all right."

"I'm fine, just have something on my mind that I can't quite figure out," Suzaku admitted.

Cecile pulled up a chair and sat down. "Want my opinion?" she asked.

Suzaku did value Cecile's opinion in the old timeline before he had officially joined Lelouch following the destruction of the Sword of Akasha. He decided that he might as well. "All right," he said. "I'm just wonder; what would you consider to be a voice of reason?"

"What do you mean?"

"If you were someone's voice of reason, what would that mean to you?"

Cecile looked thoughtful. "I'd say that I would be the one that acts as that someone's moral compass and help them understand what's right and what's wrong about a certain situation or the consequences of their actions. For example, if this someone is angry at someone else and wants to go beat them up, I would be the one who points out that he or she could get into trouble for doing that," she said.

Suzaku nodded, thinking as he realized that Cecile really did explain the matter rather well. It was rather simple and straightforward but Suzaku had thought it would be more complicated than it seemed. But then Suzaku hadn't really thought the task given to him by the Divine itself would be that simple.

Then again, even if the task was simple to explain, that didn't mean that it would be easy to accomplish.

"Does that help?" Cecile asked.

"Yeah, thank you, Miss…I mean Cecile," Suzaku said.

Cecile smiled. "Glad I could help," she said.

 _But while that does help me somewhat understand what I'm supposed to do, it doesn't help me figure out just how I'm going to do that,_ Suzaku thought.

"Oi, Suzaku, let's do another run. I want to see how well the upgrades I install work with the system," Lloyd called.

"Yes, sir," Suzaku called back and stood up before jogging over to where the _Lancelot_ was stationed.

 **. . .**

As class ended for the day, Kallen Stadtfeld gathered her stuff together, her thoughts on her conversation with Lelouch Lamperouge the day before and his mention of Shinjuku. She frowned to herself, wondering just how Lelouch knew about Shinjuku. Was it possible that he was the mysterious voice that had gotten her and her friends out of that skirmish alive? And could he know something about the ceasefire that Clovis called?

"Do you think you can spare a minute? I need to talk to you," a calm voice said.

Kallen glanced up at the violet-eyed Britannian that was standing by her, her face carefully impassive. "Sure. I was wondering when you were gonna ask," she said and stood up, keeping up the act of a sickly, feeble girl before the two of them left the room. A few of the girls muttered about how lucky Kallen was but she ignored them.

They walked out of the room and headed toward the Student Council Clubhouse. Kallen looked at it with surprise in her blue eyes. "I didn't even know this place existed," she said as Lelouch held the door open for her and then stepped into the clubhouse behind her.

"It's the clubhouse for the student council," Lelouch said and gestured to the ballroom they had just entered. "They built this ballroom for various special occasions."

"And we won't be disturbed here?" Kallen asked, turning to face Lelouch.

"Yes," Lelouch said.

He was proven wrong a moment later when a voice called out. "Here it is! I found it! Look! This is it, right?" An orange-haired girl then stood up, holding up something that Lelouch was too far away to see.

"What a relief that you found our lab data," a dark-green haired girl said softly as she also stood up.

"Good, my ass is killing me," a blue haired boy huffed, also getting to her feet.

The door opened again and a tall blonde walked in, pushing a cart filled with food. "Were you able to find it? I finished up on my end. Shall we dig in?" she said.

The blonde then turned to a confused Lelouch and Kallen.

"Um, what's all this?" Lelouch added.

"Lelouch, don't you know? I thought that's why you brought her," the blonde said, nodding to Kallen. "We're inducting Kallen into the student council. It was my grandfather's idea, actually."

"The principal's?"

"He thought it best, with her poor health, she'd have a harder time with regular club activities. Oh, I'm Milly, the president of the council. Pleasure to meet you," the blonde, Milly, said.

"Oh, thank you, the pleasure's all mind," Kallen said.

The blue-haired boy—Rivalz—the orange-haired girl—Shirley—and the dark-green haired girl—Nina—then introduced themselves as well before the door slide open and Kallen watched, with some sympathy, as a brown-haired girl in a wheelchair came into the room, holding a tray of food. "Shirley, I'm sorry, but do you think you can set these on the table for me?" she asked.

"Oh sure, thanks Nunna," Shirley said and picked up the platter of food before placing it on the table.

"Nunnally, what are you doing here?" Lelouch asked as he moved to the girl, Nunnally's, side.

"That's Nunnally, Lelouch's sister," Milly explained.

"I'm still in the middle school group, so I can't be on the council yet," Nunnally said.

"That's alright. You're an honorary member in our book," Rivalz said.

"Hello there. It's a pleasure to meet you, Kallen," Nunnally said.

"Thank you, you as well," Kallen said. _She seems pretty nice, for a Britannian,_ she thought.

The induction of Kallen into the student council probably would have been better had it not been for Rivalz and a bottle of champagne that ended up drenching Kallen. It took all of Kallen's self-control to not punch both Lelouch and Rivalz in the face.

Later, as she was taking a shower, she muttered to herself, "This is why I hate Britannians." She sighed as she let the warm water wash away the champagne from her hair just as a knock sounded on the door.

"It's Lelouch. I've brought you a change of clothes," Lelouch called from outside.

"You can come in. I've drawn the curtain already," Kallen called back.

The door opened and Kallen saw Lelouch's shadow as he made his way into the bathroom. "Sorry about all this. I know they can be a little over the top," the Britannian said.

"That's okay. Nothing wrong with cutting loose every once in a while, y'know?"

Lelouch nodded. "These are some of my clothes, by the way. Hope that's okay," he said.

"That's fine. That was fast. You went all the way to the boy's dorm?" Kallen asked.

She saw Lelouch move, probably to put the clothes down. "Actually, I live here," he explained. "It'd be pretty hard for my sister to live in the dorms so the principal lets us stay here as a favor."

"I see…" Kallen could actually understand that. It would be hard for Nunnally to get around in a wheelchair. It was rather kind of the principal to let them stay where it would be easier for Nunnally to get around. She may not like Britannians but she had to admit that there were some good ones out there, not many that she's met so far but some.

"Anyway, I'll leave you now," Lelouch said sand started toward the door.

Kallen had to act quickly if she was going to get an answer to her question. "Hey, can you get that pouch for me?" she asked.

"Um, okay, I guess," Lelouch said and handed the pouch to her past the curtain. She grabbed it and then his arm.

"Was there something you needed?" Lelouch asked, sounding confused.

"Were you that voice in Shinjuku?" Kallen demanded.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Kallen unsheathed the small knife in her pouch, letting it hover above Lelouch's wrist. "Don't play dumb with me," she snapped.

Just then, the phone rang.

"I should get that," Lelouch said, reaching for the phone and pressing it against his ear. "Yes? Oh, yeah, she's here. It's for you." He held out the receiver to Kallen.

Frowning, she took it and pressed it against her ear. "Hello?" she said.

" _Glad you're still alive, Q1,_ " that familiar voice sounded over the phone.

 _Was I wrong?_ Kallen thought, glancing at Lelouch who was simply gazing the other way.

" _1600, the day after tomorrow. The observation deck at the old Tokyo Tower. Come alone,_ " the voice said.

"Who are you? How did you arrange that cease fire order?" Kallen demanded. There was a click that prompted her to exclaim, "Hey, don't hang up!" but it was too late.

"Did you say cease fire? Sounds like you keep dangerous company," Lelouch mused, glancing at her.

"Uh, um, that was…" Kallen trailed off, unsure of how to explain the matter as she handed the phone back to Lelouch, accidentally pulling the curtain back as she did so.

"You're talking about a game, aren't you? Something online?"

"Yeah, you got me 'cause, y'know, I've been shut in my house for so long," Kallen agreed quickly, mentally thanking Lelouch for giving her the perfect excuse.

"That's what I was warning you about when I told you not to bring up Shinjuku before. Seriously, some guys will try to show you footage of what happened that day and it's pretty grim." Lelouch then raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk on his face. "By the way, you know I can see you, right?"

"Gah!" Kallen quickly pulled the curtain to hide her naked form, blushing in embarrassment. _Just great. He better not be staring,_ she thought.

 **. . .**

Suzaku was busy familiarizing himself with the systems of the _Lancelot_ , at least that was what Lloyd and Cecile thought he was doing but Suzaku knew the systems so well that he didn't need to. He was really spending his time thinking about how to respond to Lelouch's request this time around. He had an idea that he felt could work but it would be difficult to accomplish. But it could help Lelouch and might give him an excuse for knowing some things that he wouldn't otherwise know.

" _Suzaku, could you come down? There are some men here to speak to you,_ " Cecile's voice echoed over the headset.

"On my way, Cecile," Suzaku replied before powering down the _Lancelot_ and removing the activation key _._ Once he was back on the ground, he walked over to join Cecile and Lloyd, the latter of whom looked irritated. In front of them were Jeremiah Gottwald, Kewell Soresi, and Villetta Nu, all of them with impassive expressions.

"Um, is something the matter?" Suzaku asked to keep up appearances.

"Suzaku Kururugi?" Gottwald asked.

"Yes, sir," Suzaku said.

"You are under arrest for the murder of Prince Clovis la Britannia," Gottwald declared.

 **. . .**

"The council doesn't require much actual work, I guess," Lelouch said as he led Kallen, who had finished taking a shower and gotten changed, back toward the conference room. "Beyond occasional paperwork, we'll sometimes plan school events."

Kallen looked thoughtful. "So like that cultural festival?" she asked.

"Yep, like that, along with the cross-dressers' ball, the absolute silence party, and swim suit day."

"What's up with that?"

Lelouch looked exasperated. "Blame our She-Devil President. You'll be spending a lot of time with her. Hope you're ready," he said and led the way into the conference room.

"Lelouch, it's awful," Nunnally said, turning her head toward Lelouch as everyone gathered in front of the small television.

"What is?" Lelouch asked, moving to his sister's side.

"Prince Clovis has been found dead," Milly explained.

"They're saying he was killed," Rivalz said.

 _It took them this long to broadcast it?_ Lelouch thought while Kallen looked shocked.

" _Prince Clovis has been taken from us,_ " Jeremiah Gottwald, the captain of the Purist Faction in Area 11, stated on the television screen that the student council were watching. " _He fought for peace and justice against all of the Elevens. He died a martyr. We must all bury our sorrow and carry on his will._ " The broadcast was interrupted and then another voice spoke.

" _We interrupt the broadcast with breaking news. The man suspected of murdering Prince Clovis la Britannia has been captured. According to this report, the suspect is an honorary Britannian. Private Suzaku Kururugi, a former Eleven and Honorary Britannian. I repeat, Suzaku Kururugi has been arrested for murder._ "

Lelouch froze, shock coursing through his veins at the mention of his oldest friend's name. _He's alive but he's being blamed for Clovis's murder?_ Lelouch thought and then narrowed his eyes. _Jeremiah Gottwald is using Suzaku as a scapegoat. I won't let that happen._

He decided that now was the time to begin his fight against Britannia.

And he knew exactly where he was going to start.

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Blaze: and that was Stage 02**

 **Yami: you have some more warnings to add, don't you?**

 **Blaze: not so much warnings as information. One is a note while the other is a disclaimer that I should have included in the first chapter.**

 **Suzaku: I'll do the disclaimer. The idea for my Geass in this story is not Blaze's. She borrowed it (with permission) from its original creator,** _ **Shimmering-Sky.**_

 **Lelouch: I'll do the Note then**

 **Bakura: yes!**

 **Blaze: if Lelouch does the Note, you have to end the chapter**

 **Bakura: give me that damn Note (snatches paper from Lelouch) ahem, Blaze would like to inform you that the events of the short spinoff series** _ **Akito the Exiled**_ **as well as the events of the mangas and the games will** _ **not**_ **be included in this story. Therefore, characters like Wyvern Squadron, Julius Kingsley (SPOILER!** _ **What happens to Lelouch in canon between R1 and R2 will go very differently in this story.**_ **END SPOILER), Rai, Alice, Oz, and all the other characters will not be included. This is done primarily because she doesn't want to completely fuck up those characters.**

 **Blaze: that wasn't in the note**

 **Bakura: it's a genuine concern though**

 **Blaze: (thinks about it for a moment) eh, true**

 **Euphemia: you did not have to be so vulgar about it, though**

 **Bakura: get used to it, Princess (walks off)**

 **Suzaku: where are you going now?**

 **Bakura: (pulls out bow and quiver of acid-tipped arrows) oh Charles!**

 **Charles: (eyes Bakura and takes off running)**

 **Bakura: (grins and chases after Charles)**

 **Lelouch: wait! I want to join you! Blaze will update, hopefully, sometime next week but she makes no promises but, as always, reviews are much appreciated. Therefore (activates Geass) I, Lelouch vi Britannia, command you to review! (Accepts the flaming machete Blaze handed him and takes off after Bakura)**

 **Suzaku: (turns to Blaze) you actually parted with your flaming machete?**

 **Blaze: (red ring around her irises fades away) hmm? Wait, where's my damn flaming machete?**

 **Suzaku: Lelouch has it**

 **Blaze:** _ **damn it!**_ **I thought I was immune to his Geass power (stalks off grumbling to herself)**

 **Suzaku: Note to self: stop Lelouch from using his Geass on the new reviewers next chapter. Well, I guess we'll see you all in the next stage. Hope you enjoyed this one and thank you for reading.**


	3. Stage 03: The Masked Vigilante

**Thank you to** _ **Half-Dragon127, Blacksword Zero, StrawHatLuffy94, Demons Anarchy of Pride, Shadow-Shinobi666, EvilDragonMuspelheim,**_ **and** _ **Shimmering-Sky**_ **for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are great.**

 **Now, I know that there isn't much change in terms of canon things but, believe me, it doesn't completely follow canon. Like I said in the last chapter, some episodes only have minor changes, some episodes have** _ **major**_ **changes and I'm even including a five-chapter arc that is completely not canon whatsoever before Narita so be on the lookout for that.**

 **Bakura: yeah, yeah, get on with it!**

 **Oh hush. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and, though this is said at the end, reviews are much appreciated.**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 _The cell was small._

 _It felt claustrophobic all of a sudden. It was as if the walls were slowly starting to close in on him. It was odd; he had never been claustrophobic before and yet he couldn't help but start to hyperventilate as the walls slowly constricted._

 _Then he saw the blood. It was streaking down the side of the walls, creating puddles on the ground that spread out to cover the entire floor. He could feel the warm blood through his clothing, staining his hands and legs_

 _Names began to carve themselves on the blood-coated stone walls._

 _Euphemia li Britannia; Shirley Fenette; Lelouch vi Britannia; Kallen Kozuki; Gino Weinberg; Anya Alstreim; Kaguya Sumeragi; Nunnally vi Britannia._

 _As each name was carved onto the wall by an invisible chisel and then filling with blood that continued to streak down the wall like tears, the memory of each person's death flashed through my mind._

 _Euphemia getting shot by her own half-brother._

 _Shirley…he never did figure out how Shirley was killed but he could see her lying in a pool of her own blood._

 _Lelouch, with a blade sticking out of him, a smile on his face, and blood falling from the stab wound in his chest._

 _Kallen, Gino, Anya, and Kaguya; all of them were lying in their own pools of crimson with bullet wounds to their heads or their chests._

 _Nunnally lay slumped in her throne, a single bullet wound on her forehead, and a single yellow bloodstained crane resting on her lap._

 _More and more blood filled the cell and he struggled to get to his feet but he found that his arms and legs were chained to the ground. He couldn't move them. The blood rose, higher, higher. It reached his chest, it reached his neck._

 _The voices echoed around him, condemning him, accusing him._

 _"You say you want no one to die and yet everyone has died because of you!"_

 _"You promised you would protect her!"_

 _"This is all your fault!"_

 _"No. I…I tried. This isn't…this isn't my fault," he cried, struggling to keep his head above the rising tide of blood and the voices continued to shout at him. With each shout, the tide rose higher and higher._

 _He tried to cry for help but the blood had reached his mouth and he only ended up choking on the thick, warm liquid. A wave of crimson fell over him and dragged him beneath the red liquid. He tried to swim to the surface, to get the air that he desperately needed._

 _"All your fault! You couldn't protect them! It's all your fault."_

 **. . .**

 **Stage 03**

 **The Masked Vigilante**

In the dark cell in the Britannia Prison, a certain White Knight jolted out of his sleep, the last remnants of a scream lingering on his lips, his body covered in a cold sweat, and his eyes wild as he attempted to break free from the nightmare that clung to his consciousness. He sat up, taking a few deep breaths and shivering though the cell wasn't that cold. He ignored the shouts for him to keep it down from his fellow prisoners as he focused on calming his pounding heart.

It was the day after his arrest but that particular nightmare has been haunting his mind since he had first had it his first night at the A.S.E.E.C's base. It always seemed to be just as vivid as if he could actually taste, feel, and smell the blood that rose up around him and it always resulted in him waking up in a cold sweat, screaming.

It wasn't as if Suzaku has never had nightmare before. He certainly had a lot in the days following when he murdered his father. Not only that but, in the old timeline, he had nightmares about the SAZ Massacre, Euphie's death, the firing of the F.L.E.I.J.A. that destroyed three-fourths of the Tokyo Settlement, and even Lelouch's death. It really didn't surprise Suzaku that he was experiencing nightmares over all the deaths that had occurred in the old timeline, whether they were his fault or not, and over what the P.U.A.B. had done during Nunnally's coronation.

Even if he was accustomed to them, that didn't mean that he liked them and they certainly did affect him.

Suzaku tried to push those memories out of his mind as he leaned against the back wall of the cell, taking a few more deep breaths and gazing up at the ceiling. He was starting to calm down but Suzaku doubted that he would be able to get anymore sleep after that.

So he decided to think about what was coming next. First, there would be that farce interrogation that he knew would not go in his favor. There was really nothing he could do to change that, though trying to get Jeremiah on his side was something he had considered on doing. He had changed his mind simply because he wasn't sure just how that would affect Lelouch's plans; he had to remind himself that he _wasn't_ the mastermind behind a lot of the events. Not only that, but if he made too many changes, his memories of the future may become unreliable.

That didn't mean that he wasn't going to make changes. No, there were plenty of things that he was planning on changing.

And his decision regarding Lelouch's offer after his rescue was going to be a big one.

Suzaku smiled to himself. _To think that I'm actually considering on doing this when I was so adamant against this idea from the beginning. Granted, what Lelouch had in mind was different from the idea I have but still…Besides, I know of what will happen if I don't help Lelouch; the Divine told me that helping Lelouch, being his voice of reason, would change the future that I came from and that's why I agreed,_ he thought.

He knew, after planning the Zero Requiem with Lelouch, that sometimes if one wanted change, they had to force that change. Working within the system was not something that would work, at least, not entirely. Suzaku understood Lelouch's plan for the system of Britannia but he also believed in his own plan.

Lelouch wanted to destroy the system.

Suzaku wanted to change it.

Both could be accomplished; destroy the system and then rebuild it from the ashes of the old.

It was an ambitious plan but then Lelouch's entire plan against Britannia was an ambitious one.

He hadn't realized so much time had gone by while he was lost in his thoughts. Dawn arrived, the plexiglass in front of him fell, and a Britannian soldier strode into the cell. "It's time for your interrogation, Eleven," he said coolly, undoing Suzaku's chains and hoisting him to his feet roughly.

 _The farce of an interrogation. Best just go with how I responded last time. It's not like anything I say will really make a difference anyway,_ Suzaku thought as he was half-dragged toward the interrogation room and then thrown into a chair.

Jeremiah Gottwald walked into the room and took a seat in the chair across from Suzaku, his face expressionless as he tossed an evidence bag onto the table. "Do you know anything about this weapon, Suzaku Kururugi?" Without waiting for Suzaku to respond, he added, "It was the one used to rob Prince Clovis of his life .The barrel striations leave no doubt and we've done a little homework on you as well. You're the eldest child of Japan's late acting Prime Minister, are you not? Your motive here is clear."

 _To you, perhaps,_ Suzaku thought but all he said was, "I've never seen that gun before in my life."

"We've found your fingerprints all over this weapon. You're also suspected of murdering members of his Royal Guard," Gottwald said coolly. "Come clean now, and you'll be judged as though you were born a Britannian, not some worthless Eleven."

"I've done nothing wrong," Suzaku said defiantly and braced himself for the pain that was coming.

 **. . .**

Lelouch gently tucked Nunnally into her bed, brushing her brown hair out of her face as she turned her face toward him. "Big Brother?" she said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"That was Suzaku, wasn't it? The suspect they mentioned on the news?"

"Yep. Looks like he's still alive." _Though he had gotten shot in front of me. While I am thankful that he's alive, just how did he survive?_ Lelouch wondered silently.

"Yeah, it's been ages. We haven't seen him since the war ended, even we…" She trailed off and sighed tiredly. She snuggled into her pillow, one hand snaking out from under her covers to take Lelouch's hand in hers. "And Lelouch?"

"What is it?"

"It wasn't true what the news said, was it?"

"Of course not. Suzaku would never do anything like that. They've just made a mistake." And that was the truth. Lelouch felt nausea erupt within him at the memory of pointing his own gun at Clovis's head and then pulling the trigger. He swallowed back the bile he was feeling as he let go of Nunnally's hand.

"Yeah, must be," Nunnally murmured.

"Goodnight, Nunnally," Lelouch said softly, pressing his lips to his little sister's forward. She smiled in her sleep and mumbled her own goodnight before slipping into sleep.

Lelouch remained there for a while longer, watching his innocent little sister sleep. Then he stood up and walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He leaned against, closing his eyes, and taking a few deep breaths to quench his nausea. He couldn't focus on what happened to Clovis. He had to focus on his plan to rescue Suzaku from his execution and, perhaps, gain some allies in his fight against Britannia.

While he wasn't sure about quite a few of the terrorists he had worked with at Shinjuku, there was no denying that the woman who piloted that one-armed red Glasgow, Kallen, was an Ace. Having an Ace on his side would greatly help his plans.

When he had originally decided to destroy Britannia, which was what he had told Suzaku when they were traveling across the war-torn land on the day Britannia invaded Japan, he hadn't really had a plan, or anyone to back him for that matter. Even now, seven years later, he didn't have anything going for him before the incident in the ghetto.

Now, he had Geass and he had the chance to get others to follow him. He knew he would need an army if he was to stand a chance at challenging his father and destroying Britannia but he might as well start small and recruit the terrorists he had helped in the Shinjuku Ghetto for now.

His phone rang and he flipped it open. "Yes?" he said quietly as he walked away from his little sister's bedroom and entered his own.

" _It's ready,_ " a soft, monotone voice said.

"Good. I will pick it up in the morning."

" _Yes, sir._ "

Lelouch closed his phone and placed it on his side table. He sat down on the bed as he thought about how the conversation with the terrorists would go. He didn't know if they would actually help him but he knew that it would depend on how he worded his conversation. And he really just needed them to help with what he had planned in order to rescue Suzaku; perhaps rescuing Suzaku would be enough to prove that he was the real deal and might make them more likely to join forces with him.

Yawning, Lelouch decided he would work out any kinks in his plan that he thought of in the morning. For now, it has been a long day.

 **. . .**

A few days later, Lelouch, once he was sure he had boarded the right train and made sure it was some time before his designated meeting with Kallen and her companions, meandered his way through the crowd. He activated his Geass on everyone he saw to ensure that none of them would remember seeing him or acknowledge that he was there. Once he secured the compartment at the head of the train, he sat down and waited a little longer than the time he had set just to be sure.

 _Now time to put things into motion,_ he thought as he pulled out the disposable phone he had bought for this purpose and dialed Kallen's number. The phone rang a few times before Kallen's answered.

" _Hello?_ "

"I want you to board the outbound train on loop line five and bring your friends," Lelouch said, the mask that he was wearing distorted his voice. But he also made sure that it sounded the same as the voice he had used in Shinjuku. There really wasn't much difference but Lelouch hoped that Kallen, who was the only one out of the group to have spoken to him as Lelouch, wouldn't recognize it.

He also already knew that Kallen had brought backup, despite being asked to come alone. She didn't trust him but that wasn't a big surprise; if Lelouch had been in her position, he wouldn't have trusted a strange voice he didn't recognize either.

The train arrived at the station where Kallen and her friends were due to board. Lelouch relaxed as he waited for the train to begin moving again. He had asked one of the Geass passengers to knock on the door to his compartment as soon as they boarded and they had just done so. He waited until the train pulled out of the station before calling Kallen again.

 _Time for a little test._

Kallen answered on the second ring with a curt, " _What now?_ "

"Face forward and look to your right. What do you see?" Lelouch asked calmly, glancing through the window at the sprawling metropolitan that was the Tokyo Settlement. It held nothing of the beauty of the old Tokyo, the one that Lelouch had seen a few times during his and Nunnally's stay with the Kururugis.

" _The Britannian city. It was stolen away from us and built on our sacrifice,_ " Kallen said.

"And on the left?" On the left was the ghetto, the decrepit buildings that were the homes of many Japanese who had refused to become Honorary Britannians. It was in ruins, a desolate, abandoned area that was, nonetheless, home to many who just wanted to live their lives but were still under the oppression of Britannia.

" _I see our city. Remnants of the desiccated city after the Britannians sucked it dry,_ " Kallen said.

"Good answer," Lelouch said. "Now make your way to the front of the train." He hung up and relaxed against the cushioned seat as he waited for the terrorists to join him; the Geassed passengers didn't hinder them so it only took them a few minutes to arrive.

Kallen had only brought three others with her; a tall man with busy black hair, a slightly shorter man with short-cropped brown hair and another tall brunet with turquoise eyes. They stopped when they spotted him and, for a moment, there was silence until Kallen broke it by stepping forward.

"Was it you? On the phone?" she asked.

"Do you think this is a trap?" the turquoise-eyed man whispered to the other brunet.

"Was it you? Was that ceasefire your doing?" Kallen pressed.

Lelouch didn't answer those questions as he stood up and gestured toward the windows. "What did you think of my tour of the settlement?" he asked.

"Tour?" the bushy-black-haired young man repeated.

"C'mon, there's no way it was this joker," the turquoise-eyed man said.

"I wanted you to fully grasp the two; the settlement,"—he gestured to one window—"and the ghetto." He gestured to the other.

"Yeah, we know. There's a difference between us and them. A very harsh one. And that's why we resist them," the bushy-black-haired man said.

"You're wrong," Lelouch said. "Britannia will not fall to terrorism."

"Fall?"

"It's only slightly better than a childish nuisance."

The shorter brunet bristled at Lelouch's words. "Are ya calling us a bunch of kids?" he demanded.

"You should know your enemy," Lelouch went on as if the shorter brunet hadn't said anything. "It is not the people but Britannia itself and it is war you must wage, but not on the innocent. Take up your sword. Fight for justice."

"Oh please," Kallen said, rolling her eyes. "That's all easy enough for you to say, isn't it? Hiding behind that mask, why should we even trust you?"

"She's right. Lose the mask," the taller brunet said.

"Right, are you going to show us your face or not?" the black-haired man said.

"Very well. I'll show you but, rather than my face, I will show you my power. If I deliver you the impossible then might I earn your trust?"

 **. . .**

Jeremiah Gottwald was sure that s were going to go as planned. In executing Suzaku Kururugi, he would be able to dismantle the Honorary Britannian system because of Kururugi's status. While he knew that it wouldn't help much in finding the person who killed Clovis, it would help the Purist Faction's status.

Jeremiah didn't exactly believe in the concept that the Purist Faction supported; the idea that only pureblood, noble Britannians should hold positions of power and that anyone who wasn't a pureblood noble was inferior. Jeremiah couldn't agree with that sentiment for one reason only. The woman that he loved, and the woman that he had sworn his loyalty to, had been a commoner. Even though Marianne vi Britannia had been a commoner, she had still risen through the ranks to become not only a Knight of the Round but also an Imperial Consort. Not only that but she was also the kindest person that Jeremiah has ever met and her children were similar in that respect.

He smiled sadly to himself as he made his way down the hall toward the hangar where Kewell, Villetta, and the others were getting ready to transport the prisoner to his court martial. He remembered Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia very well, having often watched over them while Marianne was busy. Nunnally was a sweetheart and Lelouch was a clever genius, especially when it came to chess. Jeremiah has never been able to beat the young prince but then, as far as he knew, only the prince Schneizel had been able to defeat him.

He pushed the memories away, not wanting to think about his prince and princess. When Marianne died, his loyalty had transferred to them. When they were sent to Japan as political hostages, Jeremiah had done what he could to try and get transferred there, though it took time. When the invasion started, Jeremiah had been terrified that Lelouch and Nunnally would get caught in the crossfire. And then the news had been delivered to Pendragon about their deaths and Jeremiah had been upset but, at the same time, he found he didn't believe it. Or, perhaps, he just didn't _want_ to believe it.

That was why he had sworn his loyalty to Clovis upon finding out that Clovis was going to be the new Viceroy of Area 11. He thought that if he worked under Clovis then he could track down his prince and princess but, so far, he hadn't been able to find any leads.

"Jeremiah!" Villetta called, breaking Jeremiah out of his thoughts. He hadn't realized he had reached the hangar. Villetta was already standing by her knightmare frame while Kewell was holding on to Kururugi's arm; Kururugi didn't look that great but his face was impassive. He didn't look afraid but nor did he look defiant. In fact, his face looked like it had been carved out of stone.

"We're ready to head out. Are you okay? You looked like you were spacing when you entered here," Villetta said.

"I'm fine. C'mon, let's get moving. Is everyone in position?" Jeremiah asked, glancing at Kewell who nodded.

"Yes. It's going to be broadcasted all throughout Area 11 just as we planned," Kewell said and tugged at Kururugi's arm, causing him to wince. "Let's go."

Kururugi said nothing as he was guided away and Jeremiah went toward his Sutherland, a new one since his old one had been damaged during his skirmish with that pilot of that one-armed Glasgow. Jeremiah was still smarting over being forced to eject because of that pilot and pushed the thought away as he climbed into his Sutherland and prepared to head out.

 **. . .**

The parade began but Suzaku barely paid attention to it. He had been thinking about being paraded in front of Britannians who would think that he was responsible for Clovis's murder and he couldn't, wouldn't, correct them. Even if Lelouch was responsible for the regicide, Suzaku couldn't betray him, not that they would believe him anyway but that was beside the point. He couldn't, especially not when Lelouch was the man who could prevent the tragedy at Nunnally's coronation from ever happening.

Or, perhaps, it was partially because a part of him still saw himself as Lelouch's Knight of Zero, the only person besides Gottwald and C.C. that Lelouch trusted the most in those final months when the Zero Requiem began. Suzaku's loyalty to Lelouch had been shaky at first but, after discovering the truth behind what happened to Euphie and the real reason why Lelouch was doing all of this, he began to realize that the Zero Requiem would bring about peace.

That didn't mean that he liked having to kill his best friend though.

He remembered that he had actually been crying when he had run Lelouch through with his sword and had barely managed to keep his voice steady when he uttered the last words to Lelouch—" _This Geass I do solemnly accept_ "—and then had nearly lost his control over his emotions upon hearing Nunnally's heartwrenching wail of pure agony.

And then it had all been in vain. Lelouch's sacrifice had been in vain. The peace that he had died to create had been shattered when the P.U.A.B. had revealed their presence to the world and ruined everything.

Suzaku gritted his teeth and shoved the memory out of his mind, reminding himself that it hadn't happened yet and, if he had anything to say about it, it would never happen.

He had already decided on what he was going to do when Lelouch gave him his offer. However, he knew that war was coming and he knew that there was no middle ground in war; one had to choose a side or be neutral and Suzaku knew that he couldn't afford to be neutral.

As the transport made its way down the road, Suzaku could hear the racial slurs and derogatory terms that were being thrown his way by the gathered Britannians but ignored them, keeping his mask of impassiveness in place. He wasn't going to let them get to him just as he had last time.

"Acting Consul Jeremiah!" One of the officer suddenly called out.

"What is it?" Gottwald demanded from his position on his Sutherland.

"Vehicle approaching from the main highway from third," the officer said.

"And?"

"Sir, it's Prince Clovis's car."

"What? The Prince's car? Well, looks like we've got ourselves a comedian. Don't worry about it. Just let them in. All forces hold here."

The transport came to a stop and Suzaku heard the Britannians murmur in confusion that deepened when Clovis's car drove onto the street and moved closer with the Britannian flag flying out behind it. Looking through the windshield, Suzaku could see the driver with her head lowered but there was no mistaking that short red hair.

Gottwald wasn't amused. "You dare desecrate His Highness's transport?! Come out of there?" he shouted.

Just then, the flag burned away to reveal Lelouch in his extravagant black-purple-and-gold costume that resembled a black king chess piece with a helmet with a reflective dark glass panel covering his face.

"I am Zero!" he declared, his voice distorted, though Suzaku could still recognize it somewhat. Perhaps it was simply because of the events of the old timeline and how many times he had heard that voice. It hadn't changed at all this time around but Suzaku really hadn't expected it to.

"Zero?" Quite a few people uttered the same thing in confusion while Gottwald just looked furious.

"I've seen enough, Zero! This little show of yours is over!" he called and more Sutherlands joined the procession, surrounding the personal transport. "First things first, why don't you lose that mask?"

Lelouch went to remove the mask but instead revealed the detonator in his hand and the panels on the back of the transport fell away to reveal the gas canister that C.C. had been trapped in. While Suzaku knew that it was actually harmless, Gottwald didn't.

He scowled in fury. "You bastard!" he snarled and pointed his gun at Lelouch who simply stood calmly, holding his finger right above the detonation button. Suzaku could almost _feel_ Lelouch's smirk behind his mask.

"You intend to shoot?" he said. "I think you know full well what will happen if you do."

Scowling, Gottwald lowered his gun. "Fine. What are you demands?" he said.

"I simply want an exchange," Lelouch said, gesturing to the gas canister as he added, "This for Private Suzaku Kururugi."

"Like hell," Gottwald sneered. "He's charged with high treason for murdering Prince Clovis. I can't hand him over."

"You're wrong, Jeremiah," Lelouch said coolly. Gottwald didn't appear happy that he was being referred to by his first name, though, knowing Lelouch, he had done that on purpose. "He's no murderer."

Suzaku had to resist the urge to flinch. That wasn't true but, of course, Lelouch didn't know that yet and wouldn't know that until Mao, that contractor of C.C.'s that became obsessed with her, came into the picture. That was unless Suzaku decided to reveal the truth to Lelouch earlier.

He had thought about it but decided it would only be fair if he got something out of it. Perhaps if Lelouch was willing to tell him about his Geass then Suzaku would tell him about killing his own father. Though he still wasn't entirely sure he should tell Lelouch about the truth about him traveling back in time; there was no telling whether Lelouch would believe it or not and it was unlikely. It all came to a matter of trust; whether Lelouch trusted him enough to tell him about his power, however unlikely that was.

 _The old timeline really has changed you,_ Suzaku mused. He was much more cynical now than he was in the old timeline.

"The man who killed Clovis was me!" Lelouch declared.

Immediately, shouts of shock and disbelief echoed all around them while Gottwald's jaw dropped before he quickly regained his composure. Lelouch raised the hand with the detonator in it, his gaze locked on Gottwald's.

"For a single Eleven, you'll save scores of precious Britannians. I find that to be a bargain," he added calmly.

"He's mad, I tell you," Gottwald growled and murmured something else that Suzaku couldn't hear. He then pointed the gun again at Lelouch, clearly wanting nothing more than to shoot the masked man. Suzaku had to wonder what he would think if he knew that Zero was really the son of Marianne vi Britannia.

He didn't particularly like Marianne after meeting her on the Sword of Akasha when Lelouch had used his Geass to destroy the Ragnarok Connection but he knew that, at this point in the timeline, Lelouch didn't know anything about what happened to his mother. He didn't even know who killed her.

Suzaku only knew because Lelouch had told him in the days following him claiming the Imperial throne.

"Careful," Lelouch said. "You don't wish the public to learn of Orange, do you?"

"Orange? What's he talking about?" the soldier on Suzaku's right said.

"I don't know," the soldier on Suzaku's left replied.

"If I die, it'll all go public. If you don't want that to happen"— _here it comes,_ Suzaku thought, watching as Lelouch used his Geass on Gottwald—" _You will do everything in your power to let us go, your prisoner as well._ "

As expected, the Geass command took hold of Gottwald quickly, prompting him to relax and lower his gun. "Understood," he stated monotonously and turned to the soldier. "You there, release the prisoner."

Suzaku didn't exactly approve of Lelouch's constant use of his Geass but he supposed that would have to be something he could work on. Perhaps he could convince Lelouch to tone down the use of Geass, especially if using it too many times would cause it to go out of control. It was because Lelouch's Geass had gone out of control that he had accidentally Geassed Euphemia into committing that massacre at the SAZ.

Suzaku was not going to let that happen again.

It wasn't long before he was freed and walked over to meet Lelouch next to the car. He didn't say anything since he really didn't want to get shocked from the collar around his neck. He simply studied Lelouch with an impassive mask.

"Zero, it's time," Kallen, disguised as a delivery woman, said.

"Then let's go." Lelouch pressed the detonator, releasing a cloud of harmless purple gas, and then grabbed Suzaku's arm before quickly making their escape.

 **. . .**

Lelouch turned around to face Suzaku after releasing him, telling Kallen and the others that he wanted to speak with Suzaku alone. They were currently in an abandoned theater deep in the Shinjuku Ghetto. While the terrorists were gathered in the ruined lobby of the old theater, Lelouch and Suzaku were in the debris-filled theater itself.

The exiled prince didn't know whether he could convince Suzaku to join him but he had to try. After all, he and Suzaku could do anything together. That was how they, and Nunnally, had managed to survive traveling through a warzone when Britannia invaded; they worked together.

"It looks like they treated you rather roughly," Lelouch noted, studying Suzaku's bruised face and noticing that he was holding one of his arms. "Now you know what they're really like, Private Kururugi. Britannia is rotten. If you wish to bring change to this world, then join me."

Suzaku was silent for a long moment, watching him with cold, impassive eyes. Lelouch had to admit that his old friend's eyes unnerved him quite a bit; his eyes suggested he had seen far more than Lelouch could ever imagine and had been scarred by it. His eyes were emotionless, yes, but also haunted, filled with a quiet pain.

"Why did you kill Prince Clovis?" he asked finally.

"This is war. Why wouldn't I kill an enemy commander?" Lelouch responded.

"There had to be a reason behind it, Zero," Suzaku said. "No one kills another just because they felt like it, even in war."

Lelouch studied his old friend before deciding that he would be honest with him. "Because of what happened at Shinjuku. Many innocents were killed because of Clovis's actions," he said.

Suzaku inclined his head. "And the civilians when you rescued me?"

"Unharmed. It was just colored gas. There wasn't a single death," Lelouch assured him.

"What exactly do you plan on doing, Zero? Become a terrorist?" Suzaku asked.

"No. Terrorism won't change Britannia. What I plan on doing is bigger than simple terrorism but I will not reveal my plans to you," the former prince said.

"Mm." Suzaku fell silent again.

"Will you join me, Suzaku Kururugi?"

"Zero," Suzaku said finally, lifting his haunted green gaze to Lelouch. "If I join you, I need to know that I can trust you."

"I did save your life," Lelouch reminded him.

"You did and, for that, I am grateful but I can't completely trust you. However, that doesn't mean that I'm rejecting your offer. I have a counteroffer to make," Suzaku said, surprising Lelouch who was silent for a long moment.

 _You've changed in the last seven years,_ he thought. "What is your counteroffer?" he asked.

"I will join you, in name for now, but, in return, let me return to the Engineering Corps. I will act as your double agent. I will do my best to give you information from within," Suzaku said.

 _A double agent…within the Britannian Army? More specifically, within the Engineering Corps? Hmm, not a bad idea,_ Lelouch thought, his mind working quickly as he weighed the pros and cons of the offer.

"Very well," he said out loud, walking over to stand in front of Suzaku. "I accept the terms of your offer, Suzaku Kururugi." He held out a hand to Suzaku who took it without hesitation.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I have a court marital to attend," Suzaku said, releasing Lelouch's hand.

"You're still going?"

A wry smile crossed his old friend's face. "I have no choice, Zero. They'll start cracking down on Elevens and Honorary Britannians if I don't go," he said. "Once again, I thank you for saving you. Is there any way I can keep in contact with you?"

"I will get in touch with you," Lelouch said.

Suzaku nodded before he turned around and walked out of the room.

Lelouch watched him go, his lips pressed together. Having a double agent within the Britannian Army was a good idea but it did have its own risks involved and Suzaku was only an Honorary Britannian. There wasn't much information that he would be able to get, unless it was by accident, but, at the very least, he didn't outright deny Lelouch's offer. Lelouch did have to wonder why Suzaku had decided to be a double agent though but he wasn't complaining.

 _Someday, he will join me fully,_ Lelouch decided. Suzaku already did say that he was only joining in name _for now_ and had admitted he didn't want to join Lelouch because he didn't know if he could trust him. Saving his life had, perhaps, helped a bit in that department but Suzaku was picky with whom he gave his trust to.

 _I wonder, would he be willing to follow me if he knew who I really was?_ Lelouch mused. That was a thought he hadn't really considered. He hadn't expected on revealing his identity to anyone, least of all the terrorists. He doubted they would want to work with a Britannian and if they ever learned he was the former Eleventh Prince of the Holy Britannian Empire, they would probably be quick to cut ties with him.

At least, that was what Lelouch thought.

Suzaku was a different matter. Suzaku knew Lelouch's true identity as a former Imperial Prince and he knew just how much Lelouch hated Britannia. Lelouch had admitted to wanting to destroy Britannia in front of Suzaku after all.

Either way, Lelouch understood why Suzaku proposed his counteroffer. It was a matter of trust. He wanted to earn Lelouch's trust and, perhaps in turn, learn to trust him.

Of course, Lelouch did feel as if there was something more to it but he didn't know what.

 _Trust,_ he mused silently as he rejoined the terrorists that were gathered together, talking about the miracle that Lelouch had managed to pull off. _That is something that keeps people loyal. Hmm, if I'm going to want to take my fight to Britannia, I'm going to need people I can trust following me. A king leads and trusts his followers to follow but his followers have to trust in the king and the king's ability to lead them._

"Where's Kururugi?" Ohgi, whom Lelouch had been introduced earlier, asked.

"He left," Lelouch replied. "He is going to his court martial."

"What? That's the thanks we get for saving his life," the shorter brunet, whom had introduced himself earlier as Tamaki, huffed. "Is he stupid or something?"

"He believes that if he does not go back, the purists will begin cracking down on Elevens and Honorary Britannians," Lelouch said.

There was a moment of silence before Kallen said, "That does sound like something the Purists would do now that they've lost their scapegoat."

"I have no doubt he will be acquitted since I claimed credit for Clovis's death," Lelouch said thoughtfully. _And I have no doubt that Suzaku will join me eventually. For now, I'll let him play the role of double agent until he feels I have earned his trust and vice versa,_ he thought. For now, he would focus on the next part of his plan.

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Blaze: well, the rewrite of this chapter added three extra pages**

 **Darth: cool**

 **Lelouch: cool**

 **Suzaku: cool**

 **Jeremiah: why are you three repeating the same word?**

 **Lelouch: (shrugs) no idea. Blaze,** _ **lend me your flaming machete**_

 **Blaze: (a red ring appears around her irises) here you go (hands flaming machete to Lelouch)**

 **Lelouch: (grins and takes it) Bakura!**

 **Bakura: what?**

 **Lelouch: want to go hunting with me?**

 **Bakura: (pulls out bazooka) who are we hunting this time?**

 **Lelouch: who do you think?**

 **Bakura: eh, as long as I get to destroy things, I don't really care**

 **Lelouch and Bakura: (run after Charles)**

 **Charles: (takes off running)**

 **Rolo: wait, I'm joining in (pulls out knife and chases after Lelouch and Bakura)**

 **Blaze: (the red ring fades away) um, where's my flaming machete? Don't tell me Lulu took it** _ **again**_ **?**

 **Suzaku: all right, I won't tell you. Blaze hopes that you enjoyed this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated. The next chapter will be up…hopefully next week but Blaze makes no promises. Thank you for reading.**


	4. Stage 04: The Princess and the Time-

**Well, it has been exactly two weeks since I last updated this story. Hmm, not bad, not bad at all, especially considering I have this entire story finished and am just editing things.**

 **And…ELEVEN people reviewed the last chapter? YOU GUYS ARE FREAKING AWESOME!**

 **Bakura: gah! What is with the yelling?**

 **Wrong fandom.**

 **Bakura: seriously, when has that ever mattered to you?**

 **Yeah, true. Anyway, thank you to** _ **yuuram2fangirl, Blacksword Zero, Shadowwalker93, MM Browsing, Storm Wolf77415, StrawHatLuffy94, Demons Anarchy of Pride, Mythfan, Shadow-Shinobi666, Shiki Shiori,**_ **and** _ **Dragon Silhouette**_ **for reviewing the last chapter.**

 **Okay, now I know this chapter pretty much follows canon almost word for word (well, I did change some things around) but the nightmare prelude at the very beginning is important, but then all the memories/nightmares/dreams that are posted before the chapter actually begins are important.**

 **So, yeah, this chapter and the next one are pretty close to canon but Stage 06 is where things begin to slowly divert,** _ **emphasis**_ **on slowly.**

 **But, that's then and this is now and this note is getting a lot longer than I had originally intended. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and the introduction of Euphie! Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 _He watched Euphie topple backwards, crashing into a pool of her own blood, his scream of "Euphie!" lingering on his lips._

 _Her clothing was stained crimson as blood seeped out of the wound in her stomach._

 _He didn't wait. He swooped forward, not carrying about Zero or about the battle or about anything that was occurring around him._

 _All he cared about was getting his beloved Euphie to the doctor._

 _But it seemed as if he wasn't going to reach her. He seemed to be going slower and slower. Tendrils of shadows gripped at the_ Lancelot _, slowing it down, though only he could see them._

 _Time slowed and a snicker echoed around him._

" _Witnessing the death of the one you love again? And again? And again? Must be horrible," a cold voice said followed by a sadistic laugh._

" _Who are you?" He looked around as the nightmare faded into cold darkness._

" _I am Asher, the Guardian of Perception."_

" _Guardian?"_

" _Yes, there are many of us. I am in charge of many things, including dreams."_

 _He was confused. If this Guardian was in charge of dreams, did that mean he was the reason why he was reliving the worst moments of the old timeline? But why was he doing this?_

" _So that you shall know and remember, White Knight," Asher said. "Just like the other Guardians, of whom you shall meet eventually, I can only inform, I cannot interfere. The future's in your hands, White Knight. If you and the one to whom the Divine holds a debt do not make the necessary changes, you will not like the future that is created."_

" _But how are we supposed to do that? What changes do we need to make?"_

" _I am not in charge of Fate so I cannot say but then, neither can the Guardian of Fate herself. I will say this. Some things can be changed, some things cannot. Some things that never happened in the timeline you come from will happen, some things that did happen in the timeline you come from will not happen."_

 _That puzzled him even more._

" _Well, at least I got your mind off your precious Euphie's death. Goodbye, White Knight, and good luck. You are going to need it."_

 **. . .**

 **Stage 04**

 **The Princess and the Time-Traveler**

It had been a long day and Lelouch was looking forward to just spending the rest of the evening with his little sister and get some rest. Zero had made his appearance and Suzaku was acting as a double agent within the Britannian military, which was something Lelouch hadn't counted on and yet it could not work better for him. Having an informant on the inside would definitely help with his plans, even if he was unsure of just how Suzaku would be able to get important information to him since he was an Honorary Britannian and they weren't very high on the social ladder.

Still, at the very least, Lelouch had his oldest friend on his side, though Suzaku seemed different from how he was seven years ago. Then again, Lelouch hadn't expected Suzaku to remain the same, seven years was a long time after all, but his eyes held such quiet agony in them that Lelouch had to wonder just what happened to him after they separated.

"I'm back," Lelouch said as he made his way into the apartment he and Nunnally had been given in the Student Council Clubhouse. He froze when he caught sight of the green-haired girl that he specifically remembered getting shot in front of him in the Shinjuku Ghetto.

 _How the hell is she still alive?_ He thought in shock.

"Welcome home, Lelouch," the green-haired girl said, working on a paper crane.

"I'm so glad. I was worried," Nunnally said.

Lelouch pulled himself from his shock and moved to his sister's side to reassure her that he was all right, while studying the green-haired girl and trying to figure out just how she survived getting shot in the head.

"I'm assuming you ate out tonight, judging by your appearance," the greenette mused.

"Thank goodness," Nunnally exclaimed, relief in his voice. "I thought maybe you'd gotten caught up in all the uproar caused by that man Zero. I tried calling you but you didn't answer your cellphone. I wanted to tell you that Miss C.C.'s been waiting as well."

"C.C.?" Lelouch murmured.

"You friend goes by such an unusual name, only her initials." Nunnally mused.

"Yeah…"

"I was just wondering, is C.C. your girlfriend?"

Lelouch sputtered. "What?"

"He made a promise about our future together, right?" C.C. said with a pointed look at Lelouch who could only respond with a confused, "huh?"

"A future together? You mean marriage?"

That brought Lelouch out of his shock. "No, no, that isn't what she was talking about. It's like a…she's just joking," he said quickly.

"No, I'm not," C.C. deadpanned and was rewarded with a glare.

"Well, you're certainly doing this sooner than most but everyone's different, aren't they?" Nunnally said thoughtfully. "So I suppose it isn't that strange and if you feel like you're ready for…"

Lelouch purposely picked up a tea cup and dropped it, causing it to shatter. "Oh, C.C., look what you've done. You're soaking wet. C'mon, let's get you to the bathroom and into a dry change of clothes." He guided C.C. out of the room while repeatedly assuring his sister that the greenette was only kidding.

Once they were alone in Lelouch's room, he turned to face her, folding his arms across his chest. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"She said my name. I'm C.C.," the greenette said.

"That's not what I meant. Why aren't you…?"

"Dead?" When Lelouch didn't respond, she added, "So, do you like the power that I gave you?"

"As I thought, it was you," Lelouch said, not really that surprised to have his suspicions confirmed.

"Are you dissatisfied?"

"On the contrary, I'm grateful," the former prince admitted, leaning against the wall. "It allows me to speed up my schedule tremendously, which is a huge help."

"Your schedule?"

"Yes. My schedule for obliterating Britannia. I would've had to wait much longer before I could've made the initial move."

"You believe you can destroy it simply by using that power?"

Lelouch shook his head. "I am not that arrogant. I am sure that I can do it without this power. That was what I had originally intended after all," he said.

"Hmm." C.C. murmured as she walked over to Lelouch's bed and began unchanging, prompting Lelouch to turn around, though he did wonder what she was doing. He decided he would focus on that later as another, more pressing, question entered his mind.

"So what will you do now? I'm sure the military is after you," Lelouch said.

"Not the entire military, only a small faction of it. So it shouldn't be difficult to find a hiding place. I can make do here," C.C. said and proceeded to crawl under the covers.

"Wait, you expect to stay here?"

"A gentleman would sleep on the floor," C.C. said.

Lelouch scowled. "Don't joke around," he said but it was clear that C.C. wasn't going to leave his bed and he, sighing, decided to just let her stay there for the night.

After a while of silence, C.C. finally asked another question. "So what did 'Orange' turn out to be anyway?"

"Huh?"

"Well?"

When Lelouch didn't answer right away, she added, "If you don't want to answer my questions, you don't have to. Just as I don't."

Lelouch shrugged. He didn't see any harm in answering the greenette's question. "There is no 'Orange'. It's just something I made up. But, the more they claim to be comrades of the like-mind, the easier it is to divide them with the thorns of suspicion."

"Hm. Everyone on Earth is looking for you. Because of you, the world is going through an upheaval. So is this it? Is this what you wanted to see?"

"No. This uproar's simply a means to an end." A cool smirk playing on Lelouch's lips. "The world is destined to descend into a greater chaos."

 **. . .**

The day after the appearance of Zero, Suzaku was set free due to 'lack of evidence'. Naturally, he had expected as much. After all, there was someone out there who had just admitted to the killing of Clovis.

A part of Suzaku still didn't approve of what Lelouch did but he knew that it was pointless to think about something that had already happened and couldn't be changed. That was one thing that Suzaku knew was something he had to keep in mind; there were some things that he couldn't change, mostly because he wasn't involved in those events.

He supposed that acting as a double agent would give him the chance to prevent those events, like Narita. Above all, he was hoping that he could change enough things that Lelouch wouldn't have to go through with the Zero Requiem. It didn't matter how much blood Lelouch had on his hands nor did everything that Lelouch had done in the past, killing Lelouch had been the hardest thing Suzaku ever had to do.

He supposed that it was his talk with Shirley that had changed his attitude toward Lelouch. Shirley, the orange-haired girl that loved Lelouch, that forgave him for everything he had done, that believed nothing was truly unforgiveable.

 _"Nothing is unforgiveable, you know. In other words, you are not willing to forgive him. You don't want to forgive him."_

Shirley's words had hit Suzaku hard back then because she was right. He didn't want to forgive Lelouch for everything he had done. He had lost the woman he loved because of Lelouch whose hands were also stained with the blood of many innocents. And yet Shirley was so confident that nothing was unforgiveable.

Suzaku knew that it was because of his talk with Shirley that he had been able to mend his friendship with Lelouch and, perhaps, mending that friendship was the reason why it was so hard for him to kill Lelouch in the end. He had been crying when he had stabbed Lelouch; the only other times he had cried had been when Euphie was killed and when Nunnally had been killed by the P.U.A.B.

His lips thinned at the thought of the P.U.A.B, probably the only people out there that he truly hated, and he pushed all thoughts of what happened during Nunnally's coronation out of his head.

"Look out!" A shout sounded and Suzaku, startled by the familiar voice, glanced up and quickly held out his arms to catch the falling pinkette in them, his eyes widening as he gazed into familiar lavender-purple eyes.

 _Euphie!_ Suzaku had forgotten that today was the day that he would officially meet the young princess he had fallen in love with. He felt tears well up in his eyes and tried to fight them off as the pinkette gazed at him in concern.

"Um, are you okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?" she asked.

"No, no, I'm fine, just got something in my eyes," Suzaku assured the princess as he placed her on the ground and wiped his eyes. "Though I'll have to admit, I wasn't quite expecting you to jump out a window into my arms like that."

Euphie chuckled and then glanced up at the window, her eyes widening. "Oh, um, could you help me? I'm being chased by some bad guys right now," she said.

 _Ah, the same excuse as last time._ Suzaku responded by bowing. "All right, my lady," he said.

Euphie giggled and the two of them walked away down the sidewalk.

Suzaku watched the pink-haired girl as she chatted about being from the homeland and that she was there because it was her last day of vacation and she wanted to see as much of Area 11 as possible before she went back to school. He indulged her until they reached the park and that was when she stopped.

"Oh, how rude of me. Here I am talking to you like this and I didn't even introduce myself," she said, looking embarrassed. "I'm…Euphie."

"It's very nice to meet you, Euphie," Suzaku said. _Again,_ he thought because it was nice meeting with the woman he loved again. "I'm…"

"I already know who you are. Suzaku Kururugi. You're the son of the late former Prime Minister of Japan," Euphie said.

For once, Suzaku wasn't fazed that much by the mention of his father. While he knew that a small part of him still felt guilty over it, he still had somewhat come to terms with what happened. Naturally, he would still feel guilty; hell, he still felt guilty and remorseful for killing Lelouch and that had been planned between the both of them.

He pushed those thoughts away and glanced at Euphie, noticing that she was kneeling down in front of a small gray kitten and was meowing at it. He smiled fondly at the scene, watching as Euphie tore off a strip of her sleeve and gently wrapped it around the kitten's paw and then lifting it up.

She held it toward Suzaku. "Isn't he cute?" she asked.

"Yeah," Suzaku said, holding out a hand but pulling it back when the cat went to bite it.

"Oh, you have trouble with cats?" Euphie asked, sitting down on a park bench and Suzaku, dropping his duffel bag on the ground, sat beside her.

"I like them just fine," Suzaku admitted, stretching out his hand again to the kitten, only to pull back when the kitten hissed at him. _And he didn't mind me after Euphie's death,_ he thought with an inward sigh. "But the feeling's apparently not mutual."

Euphie giggled. "Well, I heard that unrequited love is the sign of a good person," she said. Just then, the kitten hopped out of her arms and bounded off. Euphie pouted, which caused Suzaku's heart to flutter and he looked away with a faint blush on his cheeks.

"Aww, kitty ran away," she said sadly.

Suzaku chuckled a little before he grew serious and added, "Why did you lie to me when we first met?"

Euphie glanced at him. "Oh, where you concerned about me?" she asked.

"Well, yeah," Suzaku admitted.

"Great. Then you can accompany me a bit longer," Euphie said brightly, taking Suzaku's hand and half-dragging him out of the park.

Suzaku just followed, a small smile on his face. They walked around the Tokyo Settlement, taking in the sites. Euphie asked a couple of questions about the settlement and Suzaku answered whichever ones he could as they walked. Finally, a few hours later, Euphie came to a stop and turned to Suzaku.

"Suzaku, there's one more place I want you to take me," she said.

"Where to?" Suzaku asked, though he knew the answer already.

'Take me to the Shinjuku Ghetto," Euphie said seriously.

Suzaku bowed. "As you command, my Lady," he said and held out an arm for Euphie who took it and the two headed toward the recently-destroyed ghetto.

 **. . .**

Meanwhile, back at Ashford Academy, Lelouch was seated on a bench when a shadow fell over him. He looked up from the computer on which he had been reading an article about Suzaku's acquittal to find Kallen standing in front of him, her blue eyes uncertain.

"Lelouch?" she began.

"Hm?"

"Do you have a minute?"

Lelouch closed his laptop. "Yeah, what is it?" he asked.

"About that phone call the other day," Kallen said.

"What about it?"

"Can you find out what the caller ID was? I want to contact that person again," Kallen said.

 _I'm going to have to figure out a way to keep in contact with Kallen and her group as well as with Suzaku,_ Lelouch mused. "It was a school phone so I doubt I'll be able to do much but…" He broke off when C.C.'s familiar form suddenly walked past.

"I see. Makes sense. I should have known," Kallen said and started to turn away but Lelouch quickly grabbed her gently and pulled her back toward him so that she wouldn't see C.C. The result was them being within centimeters of each other, so close that Lelouch could feel Kallen's warm breath on his lips.

"Excuse me, what are you doing?" Kallen asked.

"Ah, what indeed," Lelouch said, feeling a bit embarrassed but not letting it show. He waited until C.C. had disappeared before he released Kallen. "I have to go now." He gathered his stuff together and walked in the direction C.C. had gone.

He meet up with C.C. on the roof and folded his arms across his chest as he came to a stop next to her. "Are you insane? You can't go walking around like this. What if someone sees you? Isn't the military looking for you?" he said.

"Don't act strict with me. I never leave the school ground so it's fine," C.C. said.

"It's not," Lelouch retorted. "You can't do as you like here. You don't belong."

"I don't belong anywhere," C.C. said.

Lelouch sighed in irritation. "Fine, witch, just don't get caught," he said.

"Naturally," C.C. said flippantly and she strode off without a care.

 _Damn annoying witch._

 **. . .**

Back in the Shinjuku Ghetto, Suzaku and Euphemia were wandering around, looking at the ruins and the remnants of the massacre that had taken place earlier that week. There were crude gravestones with flowers and pictures of those who had fallen but, other than that, it was pretty quiet.

"The Shinjuku Ghetto, ruined again. The residents were just starting to return too," Suzaku murmured. It wasn't as bad as some of the things that Suzaku had seen in the old timeline, what happened to the Tokyo Settlement and Pendragon when the F.L.E.I.J.A.s were fired was easily a hundred times, if not more, worse than what happened in the ghetto. But that didn't mean that it wasn't bad.

He then spotted those three Britannians from last time and watched as they were confronted by the brunet Japanese that Suzaku recalled as being part of Lelouch's Black Knights, though he didn't remember his name.

"Get out of here, you damn Britannian bastards!" the brunet shouted.

"Eh?" Euphemia said with a frown.

Suzaku told her to stay where she was and darted over to help.

"How dare a lowly Eleven speak like…" the first Britannian began.

"Don't call me Eleven! I'm Japanese!" the brunet shouted angrily.

"Wrong. You seem to forget your people lost. You're nothing but a beaten dog!"

"Grr, you racist pig!" The brunet shouted and throw a punch at the Britannian but Suzaku caught the punch.

"Stop. Please, no violence here of all places," Suzaku said.

"Stay out of this!" the brunet exclaimed, glaring at Suzaku and going to punch him but Suzaku, knowing it was coming, dodged out of the way, though the sunglasses he had been wearing fell off as he did so. Suzaku heard them talking about whether he was the one who killed Clovis or not, despite Zero having claimed credit.

"Tch. This guy is nothing more than a slave. Big deal. You're an Honorary Britannian. Nobody cares. You sold your pride, your people, yourself, yet you call yourself Japanese?" the brunet sneered. He jerked his hand out of Suzaku's hand when the time traveler protested and then drove his fist at Suzaku again but Suzaku, tired of fighting against him, just dodged the punch.

"This isn't the time nor the place for this," he said.

"C'mon, let's just go," the brunet's companion said.

With a scowl at Suzaku, the brunet walked off with his companion.

"Suzaku! Oh my, are you okay?" Euphemia asked as she came to stand by Suzaku.

"I'm fine," Suzaku said.

"Well, I'm not okay. Just look at my prime-G and my elex-4?" the first Britannian exclaimed, picking up his broken camera.

"Why did you wait? Damn it, some honorary citizen you are," the second one sneered.

"Why'd you let 'em go? You should have killed 'em? What's a few dead Elevens to a guy like you? Who do you think's taking care of you all these years anyway?" the third one snapped.

Euphemia stalked forward and slapped the Britannian hard across the face. "I will not allow you to insult this man any longer, you oaf," she snapped, glaring at the three Britannians.

Suzaku watched them run off and Euphemia glanced at him. "You okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," Suzaku assured the pinkette with a smile.

Just then, he heard the sounds of a firefight going on nearby. Remembering that this was when Soresi and the others Purists had turned on Gottwald, Suzaku knew what he had to do. He may not like that Gottwald had tried to use him as a scapegoat but that didn't mean he wanted him to die.

Besides, once he found out the truth about Lelouch, he would probably be a powerful asset in creating a peaceful, gentler world, and would be someone who could help against the People United Against Britannia.

On that note, Suzaku made a mental note to try to track down any information on where the P.U.A.B. was at that point in the timeline, if there was any information. Mostly, he wanted to confirm just how long they've been around or whether they had been one of the resistances that were newly created during Emperor Lelouch's reign. In the old timeline, he was pretty sure that they were created later since they seemed like the type of terrorists who would do something that would land on the news or the net. They were like Kusakabe in a way, just much more ruthless. At least, that was the impression he got of them, though he had only ever seen their work once before and hadn't exactly survived it.

Suzaku was pulled out of his thoughts by the arrival of Lloyd and Cecile in a van that he knew housed the _Lancelot._

"Suzaku!" Cecile called.

"Cecile," Suzaku replied just as another hail of bullets sounded.

"C'mon, get on board. It's not safe out here," Cecile urged them.

"The Purists are having a silly squabble. Let's get out of here," Lloyd said. "Oh, and by the way, what a shame about your acquittal. Because now you'll have to work for me again."

Suzaku, after helping Euphemia into the van, shook his head and turned to Lloyd. "Wouldn't this be a good opportunity to gather battle data for the _Lancelot_?" he asked.

"Oh?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow and then grinned before moving over to the computer. "I'll start the launching sequence."

"Suzaku, what are you doing?" Euphemia asked with a frown.

"Helping. Someone is obviously in trouble and I'd never forgive myself if they got hurt when I could have helped them," Suzaku said and moved over to where the _Lancelot_ was, catching the activation key that Lloyd tossed at him.

 **. . .**

"Damn it!" Jeremiah growled to himself as he moved rapidly to one side to avoid the Slash Harken fired at him from Kewell. When he had been told that Kewell and several other members of the Purist Faction had learned about a possible terrorist attack, he had been quick to respond. He hadn't expected to get ambushed by his own men who thought that he should be killed because of what happened with Zero and the whole Orange incident. Jeremiah still didn't even know what the heck that Orange incident was all about, or why he had acted the way he had. In fact, he didn't even remember ordering the release of the prisoner or fighting against his own comrades.

"It's four against one, you damn cowards," Jeremiah growled.

He winced as a Slash Harken wrapped around his Knightmare's arm and throw him to the ground before another one slammed into his Knightmare's leg. Red, warning signs were showing up on the screens. There was a lot of unseen damage and Jeremiah was finding it difficult to even get back to his feet. Whatever that second Slash Harken had hit, it had obviously crippled one of his Knightmare's legs.

" _Don't worry, Jeremiah. We'll say you died in battle. Your family's name won't be disgraced,_ " Kewell said.

"So you're serious then? You actually intend to kill me, Kewell?!" Jeremiah said.

" _Silence, Orange! We serve the Imperial family. Why else would we be here?_ " Kewell prepared to fire his Slash Harken and let it loose, shouting, " _All Hail…_ " only for the Slash Harken to be deflected by another one that had come out of nowhere.

Jeremiah looked sharply to the side, eyes widening when he saw the white-and-gold Knightmare frame, the very same frame he had learned was piloted by the Honorary Britannian he had tried to use as a scapegoat.

" _Stop this fight. We're on the same side,_ " Kururugi's voice insisted over the comm.

" _What business do you have here? Interlopers will die,_ " Kewell said and fired at Kururugi who was quick to move out of the way. Jeremiah had to admit; the _Lancelot_ was incredibly quick. And the MVSs that he was using…Jeremiah's eyes widened as he watched the blades that could cut through virtually anything, including a Knightmare frame, appeared in Kururugi's hands and he used them to slice through the Slash Harkens fired at him.

" _The Master Vibration Swords? They've been perfected?_ " Kewell said surprised, not seeming to realize his intercom was still on. " _Never mind that. I'm going to finish what I started._ "

" _Stop this!_ " Kururugi called again but his plea was ignored.

 _He's…saving me? Even though I tried to use him as a scapegoat?_ Jeremiah thought with a frown. He would have thought that Kururugi would hate him for using him as a scapegoat, especially since Jeremiah only wanted to use him to demolish the Honorary Britannian system. And yet he was still risking his neck against four Purists just to save him.

 _I suppose I owe him for this. Damn it,_ Jeremiah thought but, deep down, he was grateful that someone was helping him.

Just then, another Sutherland joined into the fray, coming to a stop next to Jeremiah's fallen one. " _Lord Jeremiah!_ " Villetta Nu's familiar voice sounded.

"Villetta! Thanks," Jeremiah said. Now they were even, especially with how ridiculously powerful the _Lancelot_ was.

" _Do you still want to fight?_ " Kururugi demanded.

Kewell backed off, calling for his men to back down.

Kururugi quickly moved forward, putting himself in front of Jeremiah and Villetta. For a moment, Jeremiah was confused about why Kururugi was moving, until he saw Kewell pull out what he recognized as a chaos mine.

"Stop this now!" A shout sounded and Jeremiah turned, eyes widening as a familiar pink-haired girl ran forward to stand next to the _Lancelot_. _Oh God! Kewell, you idiot!_ He thought, watching as Kewell released the chaos mine, not seeming to notice the arrival of the pink-haired princess.

The chaos mine went off.

Kururugi was quick to move the _Lancelot_ and activate its Blaze Luminous shield to cover the pinkette protectively from the chaotically released red bolts. All of them bounced harmlessly off the glowing green shield.

The pinkette, who had been knocked down as a result of the attack, pushed herself to her feet. She strode past the _Lancelot_ , glaring at the Purists. "Everyone, lower your weapons at once. In my name, I command you," she said firmly. "I am Euphemia li Britannia of the Empire and third princess of the royal family."

 _If Princess Euphemia is here, Cornelia can't be far behind,_ Jeremiah mused.

 **. . .**

After Euphie ordered the Purists to withdraw, with Villetta Nu helping Gottwald out of his badly damaged Sutherland, the princess then turned her attention to Suzaku who bowed as her lavender eyes fixed on him. "I did not know who you were, Your Highness," he lied.

Euphemia moved over to stand in front of Suzaku. "I know. I didn't tell you my identity on purpose for my own reasons."

"I understand, Your Highness."

Euphie studied him for a long moment, those beautiful lavender eyes searching his face as if attempting to find something. She must have found what she was looking for because a small, sad smile crossed her lips. "You and I share a similar deep pain," she said softly. "You have lost your father and I have lost my brother."

Suzaku said nothing, knowing that the pain he felt was a lot stronger than Euphie thought. Euphie lost her brother, Suzaku lost _everyone_ he ever cared about. But, still, that didn't make the pain she was feeling any less significant.

"Will you let me help you in your quest to ensure that no one ever again has to suffer the loss of a loved one on the battlefield?" Euphie asked.

 _A bold request but just so like Euphie,_ Suzaku that. He knew that, while it was possible, achieving such a quest would not be easy and it certainly would not be without its causalities. That was just the way it was with war, and Suzaku knew that even if something like the SAZ did manage to come to pass, there was still those who would resist. The Empire and the P.U.A.B., whether they had been formed yet or not, were prime examples of this.

But Suzaku couldn't deny that he wanted to solve this entire problem without violence even if he knew that it wouldn't be possible.

 _You really have turned cynical,_ he thought wryly. "Yes, I will, Your Highness," he said softly. _Because I want a future in which no one has to lose someone they care about ever again, so that I won't lose both the woman I love, the best friend who is like a brother to me, and every single one of my friends._

Euphie smiled at him, that beautiful smile that caused Suzaku's stomach to fill with butterflies. "Thank you," she said. "Would you mind escorting me back to the Viceroy's Palace?"

"As you wish, my Lady," Suzaku said with a bow.

Euphie giggled.

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Blaze: Suzaku/Euphie, ah, I love that pairing as much as I love Lelouch/Kallen**

 **Lelouch: wait, you pair me with Kallen?**

 **Blaze: and with Shirley but I prefer you with Kallen**

 **Kallen: well…I'm not entirely sure what to think about that. I'm surprised you don't pair Lelouch with C.C.**

 **Blaze: I do but you and Shirley are my first two choices. That's why I'm stuck between the two of you for my other** _ **Code Geass**_ **fic**

 **Kalen: isn't that the one…? Just how would you do a me/Lelouch pairing?**

 **Blaze: I could do it…somehow**

 **Lelouch: why don't you pair Suzaku with other girls?**

 **Blaze: because Suzaku and Euphie are** _ **perfect**_ **for each other and** _ **so cute**_ **at that**

 **Lelouch: …Yeah, anyway,** _ **lend me your flaming machete**_

 **Blaze: (Geass command activates) here you go (hands Lelouch flaming machete)**

 **Lelouch: (grins and glares at Charles and V.V.)**

 **V.V.: are you** _ **ever**_ **going to get tired if killing me and Charles, you sadistic bastard?**

 **Lelouch: (thinks about it for a moment) no, no I will not (chases after Charles and V.V. who take off running)**

 **Suzaku: sadist**

 **Kallen: agreed**

 **Blaze: (Geass command fades) …Lulu took my flaming machete again, didn't he?**

 **Suzaku: yup**

 **Blaze: (sigh) stupid Geass command. I need to track down Jeremiah and his Geass Canceller**

 **Kallen: but he doesn't have that yet**

 **Blaze: not in the story, no, but when has that ever mattered to me? I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, no matter how short it was, and reviews, as always, are much appreciated. Since all I gotta do is edit the next chapter (and make it better than it is right now, since I kinda ended it rather abruptly), I will try and post the next chapter by Friday but I make no promises. Thank you for reading.**


	5. Stage 05: The New Student

**Well, I know I said that I'd update on Friday…yeah, that didn't work out that well. But, hey, at least I got it up within a month.**

 **And** _ **ten**_ **people reviewed the last chapter. You guys are awesome.**

 **Bakura: well, at least you didn't shout this time**

 **Oh shut up, Bakura. You can go steal something when this chapter's over.**

 **Bakura: (grins)**

 **Anyway, thank you to** _ **Saint Sita, Blacksword Zero, Mythfan, StrawHatLuffy94, Demons Anarchy of Pride, yuuram2fangirl, northernlion196, ewertondragon, Shadow-Shinobi666,**_ **and** _ **Shimmering-Sky**_ **for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are great.**

 **Well, this chapter follows canon but I did change some things around and even wrote the Cat Hunt scene entirely from Suzaku's POV so that's something.**

 **I hope that you enjoy this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 _"There are times that I wish things would just go back to the way they were," soon-to-be Empress Nunnally vi Britannia said quietly as he wheeled her through the gardens, the mask he had taken up the moment he sank his blade into his best friend's chest hiding his features._

 _"I know that it's pointless thinking about that but…I just wish…I wish that Big Brother didn't have to die," Nunnally whispered sadly._

 _He didn't know how Nunnally had figured it out but, somehow, she had. He had to repress a shiver at the memory of Nunnally's heart-wrenching wail of agony upon Lelouch's death only three days ago._

 _Nunnally turned to gaze at him, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "You won't take off that mask, I know, but I already know who you are," she said softly. "Why did you do it? Why did you agree to such a plan?"_

 _"Because it was the only way to give the world a chance to start rebuilding," he replied, his voice distorted so that it sounded like Zero's, rather than his own. After all, he was supposed to be dead._

 _"There had to have been another way," Nunnally whispered, tears starting to fall from her eyes. "There had to be! Big Brother…he…he didn't have to die."_

 _He felt what was left of his heart, that had shattered upon Euphie's death and then broke again when he had killed his best friend, break for a third time at the sight of the visibly distressed soon-to-be Empress. He walked around the wheelchair and knelt down in front of Nunnally, gently taking his hand._

 _"He knew what he was doing," he said softly. "He wanted everything to end and peace to come for everyone."_

 _"He shouldn't have had to sacrifice himself and no one will ever know what he did, that the chance we've all been given is all because of him," Nunnally sobbed. "I just…I wish that none of this had ever happened. I wish that we could all still be at Ashford Academy, just hanging out with our friends without…without having to worry about losing someone we love."_

 _He smiled sadly at Nunnally, his own tears appearing in his eyes. "There isn't a day that goes by where I don't wish for the same thing," he whispered._

 _"I miss Big Brother," Nunnally whispered and turned her teary eyes to him. "Do you? Do you miss him?"_

 _"Yes, I miss him, Nunnally." Even after all that Lelouch had done, all the crimes he had committed, all the blood on his hands, including the death of Euphie. "I forgave him for all that he has done and he…he will always be the brother I never had."_

 _Nunnally smiled sadly. "Then that makes you a brother to me too," she said softly and held out a hand toward him. "Can we go to his grave? I want to place some flowers on it."_

 _"Of course, Your Majesty."_

 _"For you, Suzaku, it's just Nunnally, since you_ are _family."_

 _"All right, Nunnally."_

 **. . .**

 **Stage 05**

 **The New Student**

Suzaku couldn't find it in himself to be surprised that Lelouch had managed to find a way to get into contact with him without alerting Lloyd and Cecile. He reread the letter that he had found within his quarters; even if he wasn't surprised by it, he did have to wonder just how Lelouch managed to do it.

Suzaku sighed and lied down. Who was he kidding? He knew Lelouch had used his Geass. It wasn't as if tracking Suzaku down had been that difficult; he had told Lelouch that he was returning to the Engineering Corps. How he found the A.S.E.E.C.'s headquarters was another matter, unless he used his Geass to get that information too.

Suzaku resolved to talk to Lelouch about overusing his Geass as soon as he could without Lelouch getting paranoid about Suzaku knowing. He mused that he could just tell Lelouch the truth but wasn't entirely sure whether he should or not; it might cause too much change too quickly or Lelouch might not even believe him. Or, maybe, Suzaku just didn't want to tell Lelouch since it could backlash against him.

Or, maybe, Suzaku had become just as paranoid as Lelouch had.

He pushed the thought away, deciding he would worry about that later. For now, he reread the letter he had gotten for a third time. It mostly told him that Lelouch would keep in contact with him by the disposable phone he had included with the package. It would make sense, since the phone was disposable, only Lelouch and Suzaku would know the number.

He glanced at the phone, thoughtful. Viceroy Cornelia, who had recently arrived in Area 11, would be going after the terrorist groups around the Tokyo Settlement soon. He hadn't been part of those skirmishes but he did know about them. It was impossible not to know about them since Cornelia had done them with the purpose of drawing Zero out.

He supposed he could warn Lelouch about that and simply say he overheard it or something. Then again, if he remembered correctly, he had learned about it because he _had_ overheard it. Lloyd had been particularly upset by the fact that Cornelia didn't want the _Lancelot_ to help with exterminating the terrorist cells like the Blood of the Samurai or the Yamato Alliance.

If memory served Suzaku correctly, it was the Blood of the Samurai that Cornelia would go after first and then the Yamato Alliance in the Saitama Ghetto. The latter would be the one that was the one he stood a chance at decreasing the number of causalities, even if he wasn't entirely sure of what exactly happened. He only knew that many civilians had been killed and the terrorists were blamed for it.

Putting the phone into his pocket, Suzaku left his room, informing Cecile that he was going for a jog when she asked him where he was going, and left the base. He jogged for a while before he pulled the phone out and dialed the only number that was programmed on it.

" _I must admit. I was not expecting you to call quite so soon,_ " Lelouch, his voice disguised as Zero's, said calmly, without hint of emotion.

"I have information, Zero," Suzaku said as he continued jogging. Like Lelouch always used to tell him, he was an 'exercise nut' and he had gone through basic training for the military. One needed to have a lot of stamina and endurance to handle being part of the military.

" _Mm. Are you in a secure location?_ " Zero said.

"Yes." The area in which Lloyd Asplund had placed his base was, by far, the most secure place Suzaku could be. No one lived there except those who worked for the Engineering Corps and the area that Suzaku had found himself in was one that he had learned the first time around was the best place if one wanted to have complete privacy.

" _Very well. What information do you have?_ "

"Viceroy Cornelia plans on trying to draw you out. She is going after terrorist cells around the Tokyo Settlement. I can't be completely sure where she will go next but I heard that she is heading toward where the Blood of the Samurai's cell is now," Suzaku reported. Even if he didn't already know this information, Lloyd was still complaining about the _Lancelot_ not being used against the Blood of the Samurai, which told him that the plan hadn't changed, despite the little changes that had been made in this timeline.

" _Hmm, so she wants to draw me out, huh?_ " Zero murmured.

"Zero, there's something else," Suzaku said.

" _Yes?_ "

"I believe that Cornelia plans on drawing you out by committing the same atrocity that was committed at Shinjuku," Suzaku said.

There was a long moment of silence. " _If she believes that will draw me out, she really is quite arrogant,_ " Zero said. " _But then I'm not surprised. She's probably thinking that if she commits the same crime as Clovis then I won't hesitate to go after her. Shame that I won't fall for her trap._ "

"Zero, what about the innocents?" Suzaku interrupted his old friend/Black Knights leader. "Are you seriously considering on just letting her get away with massacring so many civilians?!"

" _I never said that,_ " Zero said coolly. " _I simply said that I wouldn't fall for her trap. Now I know you don't trust me but you have no right to assume such a thing about me._ "

Suzaku winced. He hadn't meant to assume such things. He had just taken Zero's words the wrong way, and perhaps thought about the point in the old timeline when Zero hadn't even thought about the civilians—Narita came to mind—and he felt a bit bad. "I'm sorry," he said.

There was a moment of silence. " _I accept your apology,_ " Zero said finally. " _Rest assured, though, that I will not let any innocent lives be taken, no matter where Cornelia decides to strike. Now, is there anything else?_ "

"No," Suzaku said.

" _Then have a good evening, Private,_ " Zero said and hung up.

Suzaku lowered the phone and closed it, closing his eyes as he stopped running, turning his face to the sky above. _Well, I've officially betrayed the Empire. I can't go back now,_ he thought.

Then again, he always knew that the moment he set on the path he decided for himself, there would be no turning back.

 **. . .**

"Everyone, I would like to introduce you to a new student," the homeroom teacher said, causing Lelouch, who had been staring out the window thinking about the new information Suzaku had given him, to blink and turn toward the teacher. She gestured and Lelouch had to keep his jaw from dropping in shock as, clad in the black-and-gold Ashford Academy uniform, was Suzaku.

"Hello, I'm Suzaku Kururugi, it's nice to meet you," Suzaku said with a blank face and a smile that could only be described as fake on his lips.

 _He certainly has a good mask,_ Lelouch mused, ignoring the murmurings that were going on around him, most of them were very racist remarks about Suzaku's heritage.

"Why don't you go sit next to Lelouch, Mr. Kururugi?" the teacher said.

Suzaku inclined his head and walked over to sit in the empty seat beside Suzaku.

"What's an Eleven doing here?" Rivalz hissed from behind Lelouch.

"I…I don't know but…I don't like this," Nina whimpered.

"Well, he seems nice enough," Shirley said with a bright smile.

Lelouch cast a sidelong glance at Suzaku out of the corner of his eye. Class was about to end anyway so he decided that it was time he talked to him. When the bell rang, he stood up, catching Suzaku's attention as he did so and a short tug to the collar of his jacket before walking out of the room. He knew Suzaku would recognize the signal.

After five minutes, Lelouch was leaning against the railing, gazing out at the school grounds, when the door opened. He glanced over his shoulder as Suzaku joined him by the railing.

"It's been a really long time since we've used that signal," Suzaku commented, leaning against the railing beside him.

"It has been seven years," Lelouch replied, turning to face his friend. "I do wish to thank you though. You saved my life in the ghetto."

"We're friends, aren't we?" Suzaku said. "Besides, I was paying you back for all that you did seven years ago."

Lelouch chuckled. "I think I remember you doing most of the work," he said.

"Not my fault you have no stamina whatsoever."

"Oh shut up, you exercise nut."

Both of them chuckled. Even if they had only known each other for a couple of months before the invasion, and even if Suzaku didn't particularly like Lelouch when they first met, they and Nunnally had quickly become good friends.

Suzaku fell silent after a moment and then asked, "So what happened to that girl that was in the canister anyway?"

"We got separated," Lelouch lied.

Suzaku nodded. "I hope she wasn't another causality," he said. He tilted his head to the side. "Can I ask you something, Lelouch?"

"What?" Lelouch glanced at him curiously.

"What do you think of Zero?"

Lelouch had to keep his face devoid of emotion while he wondered exactly why Suzaku would ask that and out of the blue at that. "Why do you ask?" he asked.

"I just thought you might have felt…something considering Zero did admit to killing your brother," Suzaku said, keeping his voice low just in case. He and Milly were the only ones who knew about Lelouch and Nunnally's royal heritage.

"I don't feel anything toward what Zero did to Clovis," Lelouch lied. In truth, he did still feel a bit guilty over killing his half-brother. "As for Zero, himself, I think he has the right idea." Lelouch turned his gazes to the city. "You already know what my goal is, Suzaku. In the last seven years, it hasn't changed; I still plan on destroying Britannia."

"And Zero might be your way of doing it," Suzaku said.

"Perhaps. What do you think about him?" Lelouch was starting to realize that he was revealing a bit too much. While Suzaku already knew of Lelouch's hatred toward Britannia and the fact that he promised to destroy it, Lelouch didn't want to give him any more pieces to put the entire truth together. He didn't want Suzaku to know that he was Zero just yet; then again, he wasn't planning, at the moment, on telling _anyone_ that he was Zero. The terrorists he had met in the Shinjuku Ghetto would turn on him in an instant if they knew, though Lelouch wasn't entirely sure how Suzaku would react.

"I get what he's doing," Suzaku admitted. "And I understand why he's doing it but that doesn't mean I approve."

"Didn't he save your life?"

"Even if he did save my life, that doesn't mean I suddenly see him as a good guy nor does it mean that I trust him," Suzaku said. He pushed himself a way from the railing and added, "A true leader trusts his followers and never gives his followers a reason to distrust him. My father was that way. He said that trust works both ways. You can't expect someone to trust you if you don't trust them."

Lelouch thought about Suzaku's words. They rang true. Based on his current plans, he was going to be the leader of the resistance against, at the moment, Britannian rule in Japan but, eventually, he would take the fight to the Emperor. And he couldn't afford to have followers whom he couldn't trust and who couldn't trust him.

"You're right," he mused. "I…suppose I never really thought about it that way."

 _Though I wonder why Suzaku is telling me this when he should just contact 'Zero'. He has 'Zero's' number after all and could easily give this advice directly to him, unless…_ Lelouch pushed the thought away. It was too far-fetched an idea to even consider…

…though it did kind of make sense.

Suzaku had first brought up the issue of trust with Lelouch when he was Zero in the Shinjuku Ghetto after he had been saved and now he was bringing it up again, this time in front of Lelouch. Why?

"Suzaku? Is there something you're not telling me?" Lelouch asked.

"Well, I haven't exactly gotten around to telling you everything I wanted to tell you when you asked me to come up here," Suzaku said with a shrug. "I was going to tell you how I got into this school to begin with."

 _Changing the subject before I can question whether he knows I'm Zero or not,_ Lelouch noted. He was tempted on using his Geass on him but realized that he couldn't do that, not to Suzaku of all people. Using his Geass on Suzaku would be like using it on Nunnally or Euphemia, something he would never do.

He decided to just let the matter go. It wasn't as if he had any concrete proof that Suzaku knew who he was; he was probably just being paranoid. _Funny that I have only just started my campaign against Britannia and I'm already starting to feel paranoia,_ he mused silently.

"So how did you get into this school?" he asked.

"Your sister, Euphie…ah, I mean Princess Euphemia…uh, she believed that a seventeen year old should be in school so she arranged it," Suzaku said, though his cheeks had reddened when he called the princess 'Euphie'.

Lelouch raised an eyebrow. _Does Suzaku have a crush on my sister?_ He thought. As far as Lelouch knew, Suzaku didn't know Euphemia; he was sure that the only reason Suzaku knew that she was his sister was because practically every member of the royal family were children of Charles vi Britannia and that meant that they were all half-brothers and half-sisters. "So how did you run into Euphie anyway?" he asked.

"She kinda…fell on me."

Lelouch blinked. " _Fell_ on you?"

Suzaku's cheeks were red and he was looking everywhere but at Lelouch. "Um, she was jumping out a window and I caught her before she could hit the ground."

"Why the hell was she jumping out a window?" Lelouch wondered, bewildered.

Just then, the bell rang.

"We should get to class," Suzaku said, not answering the question and heading toward the door. He paused at it and glanced back at Lelouch who, deciding that it didn't matter why his half-sister had jumped out a window, had returned to leaning against the railing. "Are you coming?"

"I think I'll stay up here for now. Besides, it's gym. By the way, do you want to come over for dinner? Nunnally will be thrilled to see you," Lelouch said.

Suzaku was silent. "All right," he said, though his voice sounded strained. Lelouch turned but his friend was already gone.

 _What was that about? He sounded a little like when he had first greeted me back in the Shinjuku Ghetto,_ he thought.

 **. . .**

Suzaku rested his forehead against the wall of the hallway. _Why did just the mention of Nunnally's name cause me to think about what happened to her?_ He thought. When he had first seen Lelouch, those same emotions and memories of when he had been forced to kill his best friend had come back but it wasn't nearly as bad as what happened now.

Suzaku figured that was only because he knew what was coming with Lelouch but Nunnally's death had taken him by complete surprise.

His hand clenched. The People United Against Britannia. He had done research on them but had only managed to find a few articles dated a few months earlier in which the P.U.A.B were mentioned; apparently, they had launched a surprise attack on a Britannian embassy on the border between Britannia and Europia United but were fought off by Prince Schneizel's forces and haven't been heard from since.

But it did confirm that they did exist, they had just gone to ground. Whatever had happened during their fight against Prince Schneizel had obviously been a devastating blow to their organization.

Suzaku took a deep breath, reigning in his anger and hatred. It was surprising. He never thought he would ever actually _hate_ someone, it just didn't seem like him. Even Lelouch, after everything he had done and all the blood on his hands, hadn't been hated. But the P.U.A.B…

 _They're worse than Kusakabe,_ Suzaku thought, pushing himself away from the wall and headed toward his next class, ignoring the stares that he was receiving.

That was one thing that he didn't miss about being back at Ashford Academy but he had known the bullying would happen. He would just ignore it, like he did last time; now, after everything that had happened, the bullying he received while at Ashford seem very insignificant by comparison.

 **. . .**

That night, Lelouch and Suzaku made their way into the Student Council Clubhouse and toward the east wing. "So you live here?" Suzaku asked conversationally as they walked.

"Yeah, the principal pulled some strings so that we could stay here. It just makes it easier for Nunnally," Lelouch replied.

"Mm. It's nice," Suzaku mused.

They entered the apartment and Lelouch gestured for Suzaku to be quiet as he made his way into the dining room where his little sister was seated at the table, working on a paper crane while Sayoko was working on dinner.

"Hello, Nunnally, how was your day?" Lelouch asked, coming to stand by his sister.

"It was good," Nunnally said with a smile. "I managed to make quite a few cranes today."

"Oh? And how many are you at now?"

"Umm, somewhere in the two-hundreds, I think. Miss Sayoko has been writing numbers on each one that I finish so we could keep count," Nunnally said with a smile as she finished with the crane, which was being made out of yellow origami paper.

Suzaku looked away when he spotted the crane, more importantly, the fact that it looked identical to the one that Nunnally had been holding in the old timeline, except without the bloodstains.

"By the way, I have a present for you," Lelouch said with a smile while Suzaku quickly composed himself.

"You do?"

Lelouch nodded and gestured for Suzaku, who had been standing outside the dining room, to enter. He, taking a deep, quiet breath, walked into the dining room quietly. He joined Nunnally, trying hard not to think about the last time he saw her, especially not when she was holding a paper crane that was the same color as the one she held at the moment of her death. He then knelt beside Nunnally and gently took her hand in his.

She gasped. "This hand…can it be? Suzaku?" she whispered.

"Yes, it's me, Nunnally," Suzaku whispered.

"Oh, I never thought all three of us would be together again after we got separated," Nunnally said with a bright smile.

Deciding to change the subject, since he was now starting to go down memory lane—and that was the last thing he wanted to do at the moment—Suzaku asked, "So why are you making so many cranes?"

"Well, I wanna make a thousand cranes because, then, my wish will be granted," Nunnally said.

"What is your wish?" he asked.

"For the world to be a gentler and more peaceful place," Nunnally said softly.

 _I will do my best to make sure that your wish is granted this time around,_ he thought.

 **. . .**

While Suzaku and Nunnally were catching up after dinner that night, Lelouch carried the dishes into the kitchen and found C.C. leaning against the counter, watching him with expressionless golden eyes. "Are you so sure that it's wise to have him so close?" she asked.

"At the moment, he's a valuable asset to my cause, and my best friend. He's fine," Lelouch assured the greenette.

"Hmm, there's something odd about him," C.C. said.

"Odd?"

"I've just been feeling…something around him and yet I can't figure out what it is," C.C. said, sounding frustrated.

"What do you mean?" Lelouch asked.

"It feels like he has a power but…"

"Wait, _Suzaku_ has Geass?" Lelouch echoed.

C.C. glared at him for interrupting before going on. "Now, I don't know if he does or not. I just said it _feels_ like he does but it certainly didn't come from me," she said.

"Are there others like you?"

"That would be telling," C.C. said and, after claiming a slice of pizza from the fridge, disappeared down the hall toward Lelouch's room, leaving the former prince frustrated.

 _Does this mean that there is more than one immortal out there that can grant this Geass power? And does Suzaku really have Geass?_ He thought.

Later that day, Lelouch and Suzaku found themselves on the porch outside of the clubhouse, Suzaku was turning over one of the origami cranes that Nunnally had made for him; it was made out of white origami paper. Lelouch was observing his first and oldest friend but if Suzaku had Geass, he wasn't using it. He wondered if he should ask about it but decided against it; if Suzaku wanted him to know then he would have told him.

 _You never told him about your Geass_ , an inner voice reminded him but Lelouch told it to shut up.

"Thank you for the dinner, Lelouch," Suzaku said. "But I think we're going to have to be careful to avoid your identity being revealed."

"I've been careful the past seven years, Suzaku. I'll be fine," Lelouch assured him. "Have a good night."

"You too," Suzaku said and walked away.

 **. . .**

Suzaku was thankful that he had managed to control his emotions until he got back to the Engineering Corps and, since Cecile and Lloyd were likely still at work and no one of the technicians were paying attention to him, there was no one present to see the tears. He turned the small white origami crane that Nunnally had given him and his mind couldn't help but flash back to the bloodstained crane she had been holding when she was killed.

Wiping the tears away, Suzaku told himself that he needed to get a hold of himself. He chuckled bitterly to himself. "Gees, you're just a big softy even after everything, tearing up over a paper crane," he murmured. He smiled sadly. Gino would probably get a kick out of it and probably would never let Suzaku live that down.

He sighed as he put the paper crane on his desk and laid down, folding his arms behind his head. He wondered if he would ever see Gino again because the likelihood of him becoming a Knight of the Round this time around was less than none, especially since he had already made his decision as to which side he would be joining once he had to make a choice.

But he supposed he might still run into the Knights of the Round, mostly likely on the battlefield, but it wouldn't be the same.

Deciding that he needed to distract himself, Suzaku sat up and moved over to where he had placed the laptop he had been given by the school and began to look up more information on the P.U.A.B. again but, aside from the articles he had found previously, there was nothing else.

 _They honestly just don't seem like the type to just stop their terrorism but maybe I have them all wrong. Maybe they are the kind who don't want to be on the news or the net as I thought and, perhaps, just attacked because they saw an opportunity and took it. Maybe I'm just over complicating this entire matter,_ Suzaku thought, scrolling through the articles but then found another one that was dated for late February, only a few weeks ago. The headline read: _The Anti-Britannian Terrorist Faction Strikes Back_ and it was followed by the picture of the remains of what looked like a school, though Suzaku wasn't entirely sure in which Area it was.

H read through the article, noting that the P.U.A.B. attack was a bombing of a Britannian school in Area 4 where eighty-percent of the students and ninety percent of the teachers were killed. His eyes went cold with hate as he read about the P.U.A.B.'s complete disregard for the fact that there had been children as young as six years old at that school and not all of the causalities were Britannian. It was sickening that there were people who could have such disregard for someone else's life. The majority of the Britannians weren't even this bad. Even _Lelouch_ when he was Emperor was never this bad and he was actively _trying_ to get everyone to hate him.

Suzaku exited the article and began looking up information on the leadership of the P.U.A.B. but, unfortunately, couldn't find anything. Deciding that he had done enough research for the time being, he closed down his laptop and returned it to his bed. He wondered if he should tell Lelouch about the P.U.A.B. but decided that he would later.

Lelouch was going to have his hands full and the P.U.A.B. haven't made any moves toward Area 11. Lelouch really couldn't do much for the other Areas until he got Kyoto's support and actually could travel to other Areas. He was likely going to focus on Japan as he had last time for the time being.

Yawning, Suzaku decided to get some rest. Tomorrow, he had school and, while he was not looking forward to the way the rest of the student body would treat him, he was actually looking forward to going to an actual school again.

 **. . .**

Lelouch noticed that, throughout the next day, whenever Suzaku entered the room, the entire room would go silent. Then there were the glares and the murmurs and it irked Lelouch that Suzaku was being treated like that. However, he did notice that Suzaku was absolutely ignoring everything that was said about him. As it was, he didn't seem at all affected by the comments

He was currently leaning against the railing, frowning at Suzaku who was calmly attempting to wash the racial slur that had been spray painted onto his gym clothes, as he held his phone to his ear. He listened calmly to Ohgi's report.

" _Sir, we've discovered something. Viceroy Cornelia has taken out the Blood of the Samurai. What do we do?_ " Ohgi asked, sounding uncertain.

 _Hmm, so Suzaku was right, not that I'm surprised, though I do wonder how he got this information,_ Lelouch thought, not bothering on even attempting to reassure the uncertain Ohgi. He thought briefly about whether he should just cut ties but decided against it; after all, Kallen was an Ace and Lelouch doubted she would work with him without her friends and having an Ace on his side would help him greatly.

His thoughts went to Suzaku's words and he asked, "Do you know of any other resistances around the Tokyo Settlement?"

" _Well, there's the Yamato Alliance in the Saitama Ghetto,_ " Ohgi said. " _We never really dealt much with them but that's where they are._ _What do we do now?_ "

"We will head to the Saitama Ghetto in a few days. Do you have any contacts who might be willing to speak with me?"

" _The new leader might. He was a close ally of our former leader Naoto,_ " Ohgi said.

"Can you set up a meeting?"

" _I can try_."

"Then do so," Lelouch said.

" _Understood, sir_." Ohgi hung up and Lelouch put the phone away.

 **. . .**

" _Attention! Attention! This is about a cat! If anyone finds a cat that's running around campus and bring him to me then they'll get a great prize! A kiss from a member of the Student Council!_ "

It was early afternoon when Milly's voice echoed around the campus. Suzaku heard the announcement and mused that this was when he and Lelouch had tried to catch Arthur, though he never did figure out what it was that Arthur had that Milly wanted. He was rather curious though so he decided to try and catch the cat before it lost whatever it was that it had taken.

He took the shortcut that would take him to the tower in which he had caught Arthur last time, and began looking around for the cat. He spotted Arthur sprinting down the hallway but his eyes widened when he spotted what was around the cat's head.

Zero's helmet.

 _That explains why Lelouch was so determined to catch that cat before anyone else,_ he mused and went to grab the cat, only for him to dart between his legs. Suzaku nearly lost his balance but manage to stay on his feet and whirled around.

 _Damn, forgot how fast he was,_ he thought and darted down the hallway after the cat, crashing into someone who was coming from another direction when he reached where two hallways intersected.

"Sorry," Suzaku said quickly and scrambled off the familiar blonde form of Milly, cringing inwardly at the memory of the last time he had seen Milly.

"No problem. Didn't take ya for the assertive type though," Milly said with a grin as she got to her feet.

Suzaku went red at the implication. "I…that wasn't…"

Milly laughed. "Ah, I'm just joking. Hey, did ya see the cat?" she asked.

"I think I saw it go that way," Suzaku said, pointing down the hall across from the one Milly had just entered.

"Great! Let's hope so 'cause I wanna get some new material to use against Lelouch!" Milly said with a grin and darted off.

 _It's refreshing seeing Milly as she was before the Black Rebellion and everything that happened afterwards. No one got out of that conflict unscarred,_ Suzaku thought and, reminding himself that he still had a cat to catch, pushed the thought away and darted off.

He neared the part where he had started and caught sight of Arthur before crashing into another person who was coming toward the stairs from another direction. "Sorry, oh, hey Lelouch," Suzaku said, stepping back because, this time, he hadn't been running fast enough to actually knock anyone down.

"Hey…Suzaku…what are…you…doing here?" Lelouch asked breathlessly, looking utterly exhausted, not that Suzaku was at all surprised.

"Oh, I heard Milly's announcement and thought it'd be fun," Suzaku said with a shrug. "And I saw the cat go up this way." He darted up the stairs.

"Suzaku! W…Wait!" Lelouch gasped out and darted after him.

 _Hmm, now I know why he was so desperate to stop me from catching Arthur,_ Suzaku mused as he rounded the corner and neared the top of the tower. He was just in time to see Arthur hop out the window and scramble closer to the top of the tower and he quickly darted after him.

"Suzaku!" Lelouch called, poking his head out the window.

"Stay there, Lelouch," Suzaku said, though he knew that Lelouch wouldn't. He mused that he really didn't know if Lelouch falling had been planned or had been a very convenient coincidence. Either way, it had served two purposes; prevent him from seeing Zero's helmet and getting the bullying of his fellow classmates to stop, mostly.

Suzaku decided to just let that matter play out as it did last time around, deciding that he would wait for Lelouch to trust him enough to tell him that he was Zero.

Or, if he grew tired of Lelouch's stubbornness, just tell him that he already knew.

The truth was, Suzaku just wanted to know that his oldest and best friend trusted him now as much as he did when they were planning the Zero Requiem. That was the main reason why he wasn't just telling Lelouch that he already knew who he was.

 _Trust._ Just as Suzaku had told the exiled prince. Trust was the key to any relationship, especially a leader and subordinate one. Trust was going to be needed if Suzaku was ever going to be able to pull off helping Lelouch, especially during the times when his knowledge of the future became unreliable.

However, that didn't mean that he couldn't _hint_ that he already knew. Maybe if Lelouch knows that Suzaku knows, for one, he might try and be more careful to avoid arousing the suspicions of others who knew him well—Suzaku really had to wonder just how Milly hadn't figured it out, especially considering she knew him from before he was exiled—and, for another, he might actually _tell_ Suzaku the truth.

Suzaku really wasn't holding his breath on the latter one though.

 _Yes, I have turned cynical,_ he thought.

Suzaku scrambled further upward but, just as expected, Lelouch, who had tried coming up after him, lost his footing—whether that was on accident or on purpose, he supposed he would never know—and began sliding downwards.

Suzaku was quick to let go and slid after his friend, ignoring the distant cries of horror from the student body that were watching the entire thing unfold. He grabbed Lelouch's hand before he could slid off and grabbed hold of the window sill to keep them both from falling.

"I've got you," Suzaku said and hoisted both himself and Lelouch back into the tower.

By that time, Arthur had made his way back into the tower as well, though without the helmet. Suzaku, once Lelouch was safely in the tower, walked over to the cat and reached out to pick it up, wincing when Arthur sank his teeth into his finger. "Ow! Why do you like biting me so much?" Suzaku murmured, using the hand that didn't have Arthur's teeth in them to pick the small kitten up and heading toward the stairs, briefly glancing at Lelouch who waved at him to go ahead of him.

"Did you catch sight of what he was carrying?" Lelouch asked suddenly as Suzaku came to the top of the staircase.

He didn't turn around. "I know how to keep a secret and I won't betray yours," he said simply and headed down the stairs. There, he had planted his hint; it wasn't that large of a hint but Suzaku hoped that it would be enough and that Lelouch would realize that Suzaku _could_ be trusted.

He left the tower and headed over to join Milly and the rest of the student body who were all gathered. A moment later, he felt himself being crushed by Shirley's strong arms and had to quickly shove aside the memory of the last time he had seen Shirley. Though the fact that Arthur, not liking that he was being squashed between two humans, had decided to take out his anger on Suzaku, by once again biting down hard on his finger again, took his mind off that fact.

"Oh thank you for saving Lulu," Shirley exclaimed.

"Y…You're welcome but…could you please let go of me? You're squashing the cat," Suzaku said, wincing in pain at the bite.

"Oh, sorry!" Shirley said and quickly released Suzaku who gently but firmly removed his finger from Arthur's jaws, scanning it, a bit surprised that it wasn't bleeding.

"So did that cat have anything on him?" Milly asked with a grin.

"Nope, didn't see a thing," Suzaku said, adopting a mask to hide his lie. He mused that he really had gotten better at lying during his time as a Knight of the Round and Lelouch's Knight of Zero.

"I should've known that was why you did all this, Milly," Lelouch said from behind him and Suzaku watched as the exiled prince came to a stop at his side, though he did cast a sidelong glance at Suzaku, his lips quirking in a barely noticeable frown.

"Well, of course," Milly said with a grin.

"So you both caught the cat?" Nunnally asked and, when Lelouch and Suzaku nodded, she wheeled herself over. "Then you get the prize, though since you both got the cat, a kiss from an honorary member will have to do."

Suzaku leaned forward and allowed Nunnally to gently kiss him on the cheek before she repeated the process with Lelouch.

"So, Milly," Lelouch said, turning his attention to the blonde. "Would it be all right if Suzaku joined the Student Council?"

"Why?" Rivalz asked.

"He's my best friend and I'm sure you'd love to have another minion…I mean member of the Student Council to help out," Lelouch said casually. Suzaku's lips quirked at the mention of him being one of Milly's 'minions' because he couldn't exactly argue against that.

"Sure, why not? I can always use a new minion…I mean Student Council member!" Milly said brightly.

Suzaku's lip quirked in amusement.

Once they were alone, with Milly heading toward the clubhouse to get ready to induct the newest member of the Student Council and the rest of the student council, except Lelouch, following her, Lelouch turned to Suzaku.

"Suzaku, about what you said in the tower…" he began.

"I stand by my words, Lelouch," Suzaku said, facing Lelouch and looking at him directly in the eye. It was risky doing this, especially considering Lelouch's power, but it was also a test of whether Lelouch trusted Suzaku enough to not use his Geass on him now.

Lelouch continued to look at him before he nodded his assent. "C'mon, we should get to the clubhouse before Milly comes back and literally _drags_ us back with her," he said.

Suzaku chuckled, relieved that Lelouch seemed to have silently agreed to place some trust in him—he ignored the cynical whisper telling him that it was more likely that he just didn't have the evidence to prove Suzaku knew anything—and nodded. "Yeah, she certainly is a forced to be reckoned with," he said.

"You don't know the half of it," Lelouch said dryly.

 _Actually, I do._ Suzaku kept that thought to himself as he followed Lelouch toward the Student Council Clubhouse.

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Blaze: well, I think this version of this chapter is much better than the first version and it doesn't end quite as abruptly as the first version did**

 **Bakura: whatever. Can I go steal something now?**

 **Blaze: yeah, fine**

 **Bakura: (grins and heads off to steal from the Imperial Palace in Pendragon)**

 **Charles: why the hell are you…(gets hit by flaming arrow) OW!**

 **Lelouch: (grins sadistically)**

 **Charles: you little…! (Gets hit by another flaming arrow) ow!**

 **Suzaku: stop firing flaming arrows at the Emperor, Lelouch**

 **Lelouch: okay (turns to Blaze)** _ **lend me your flaming machete**_

 **Suzaku: oh no you don't (grabs the flaming machete out of Blaze's hand before she can hand it off to Lelouch)**

 **Lelouch: and I already used my Geass on you, damn it!**

 **Blaze: Suzaku, give me my flaming machete**

 **Suzaku: fine but I'm gonna remain to ensure that Lelouch doesn't get his hands on it again**

 **Lelouch: you suck, Suzaku**

 **Blaze: (chuckles) even though it's similar to canon (though the Cat Hunt scene was done from Suzaku's POV instead of Lulu's so that's a slight change), I hope that you liked this chapter. The next chapter will come out…whenever…and reviews, as always, are much appreciated. Thank you for reading.**


	6. Stage 06: The Guardian of Fate

**On a note completely unrelated to this story, I've started reading the manga** _ **Code Geass – Oz the Reflection**_ **and I gotta admit, it's actually pretty good. Marrybell, Oldrin, and Orpheus are interesting characters so far. Well, I've mostly only learned about the former two but still.**

 **Bakura: no one cares. Get to the point**

 **Oh fine. Yay, ten people reviewed the last chapter!**

 **Thank you to** _ **EvilDragonMuspelheim, Shadow-Shinobi666, Blacksword Zero, blarg7865, yuuram2fangirl, Guest, Saint Sita, grievousrommel, Shimmering-Sky,**_ **and** _ **Demons Anarchy of Pride**_ **for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are awesome!**

 **I hope that you enjoy this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 _"There's one thing that I've always wondered, Zero," Nunnally said, turning her bluish-purple eyes to the side where he was standing._

 _"What is that, Your Highness?" he asked._

 _"What is your greatest wish? I mean, mine was a peaceful, gentler world with my big brother," Nunnally said, sadness entering her voice as it always did whenever she spoke about her late older brother. Only six days had gone by since his death and it was obvious that Nunnally was still grieving._

 _Of course so was he but he knew that he couldn't afford to let his grief cloud his thoughts, not when he had to fulfill his promise to Lelouch and fulfill the role of Zero. He knew the same could be said for Nunnally who had to prepare herself for when she would become Empress the following day._

 _But his mind went to Nunnally's question. What was his greatest wish?_

 _He thought about everyone he had lost: Euphie, Shirley, Lelouch. All three of them were dead and he wished that he could have found a way to stop their deaths._

 _If only he had, somehow, stopped Lelouch from accidentally Geassing Euphie…_

 _If only he had stopped Rolo from killing Shirley…_

 _If only he had found another way to attain a peaceful world other than going through with the Zero Requiem…_

 _If he had only done something then he could have saved the lives of three people that he cared about: the woman he loved, one of his closest friends, and the best friend who was like a brother to him._

 _He wished that he could change things, that he could have done_ something _to prevent those deaths._

 _"Suzaku?" Nunnally asked, breaking him out of his thoughts through the use of the name he had forsaken when he adopted the mask of Zero. She only ever called him that when they were alone and she just wanted to be Nunnally and Suzaku, not soon-to-be Empesss and Zero._

 _"I'd wish for the chance to prevent the deaths of the people I care about that I've lost," he said finally in answer to Nunnally's question. "Euphie, Shirley…Lelouch. I just…I wish I could go back in time and just…stop Euphie, Shirley, and Lelouch from dying someway, somehow."_

 **. . .**

 **Stage 06**

 **The Guardian of Fate**

Yawning, Suzaku rubbed his eyes as he gazed at the pile of homework that was in front of him. He had been working on it for the past couple of hours and, while he was making progress, it was tiring work. He could hear the quiet talking of Cecile and Lloyd as they worked on the _Lancelot_ nearby and perked up when he heard Lloyd mention the word 'Saitama'.

"That's where the Viceroy's going next?" Cecile asked quietly.

"Yup, but we're not gonna be in the fight," Lloyd huffed, sounding annoyed. "We've got the best Knightmare Frame out there and we can't even use it! It's so unfair." He sounded like a spoiled kid who was used to getting what he wanted.

"I dunno what she has planned but she's making an announcement this evening," Lloyd said.

 _So the attack's tonight,_ Suzaku thought, finishing off another problem. A part of Suzaku felt guilty for betraying his oaths to the Britannian Empire but, after everything he had seen and everything he had done, he just didn't find himself able to care anymore. This wasn't about him. This was about a peaceful future, hopefully one that was more long-term than the last one.

Neither Suzaku nor Lelouch harbored any illusions that the peace Lelouch's death would create would last forever. They knew that it wouldn't but Lelouch still felt that if he died with all the world's hatred focused on him, the peace that followed would allow the world to begin healing. If the People United Against Britannia hadn't decided to strike when they had then Suzaku was positive the peace would have lasted for much longer.

But, because of the P.U.A.B., Lelouch's sacrifice had been in vain.

The hate that Suzaku felt for the P.U.A.B. rekindled but he pushed it away and tried to focus on his homework. When he was done with his math assignment, he put the pencil down and stretched his stiff fingers. "I'm gonna take a break," he said.

"Are you almost done?" Cecile asked curiously.

"If you are then maybe you can help me with the upgrades," Lloyd suggested.

"More upgrades?" Suzaku said with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course! It'll improve the _Lancelot's_ efficiency," Lloyd bragged.

"Maybe in a little while. I need some fresh air," Suzaku said.

"Well, all right. I'm sure I can do them myself," Lloyd said with a shrug and went back to work while Suzaku left the base, jogging toward the private point about half a mile from the base.

He did feel guilty about being a double agent but, after killing all those people in the Tokyo Settlement when he fired the F.L.E.I.J.A—even if he had been under Lelouch's Geass command, he had to wonder. Why the hell did his brain think firing the F.L.E.I.J.A. _away_ from the enemy would allow him to live?—what he was doing wasn't nearly as bad.

He paused thoughtfully at that question but decided that he just did not understand the inner workings of Geass, whether it be Lelouch's or his own—he _still_ hadn't confirmed if those numbers meant the number of days one had left to live or something else entirely—and he didn't want to. It was just too complicated.

Dialing Zero's number, Suzaku waited.

Zero was quick to pick up by the second ring. " _Zero,_ " he said into the phone.

"I have a location and a general timeframe," Suzaku said, thankful that Lloyd's complaining gave him the perfect excuse to use the knowledge he had of the future.

" _You do? Just how did you get that kind of information? Never mind. Where and when?_ " Zero asked.

"The Saitama Ghetto, tonight. I suspect the Viceroy's going to make an announcement this evening and I think that means that this is going to be a trap and most likely for you," Suzaku replied.

Zero didn't reply to him, instead talking to someone on his end before his voice came back. " _It's possible. Good work. Is there anything else?_ "

"One more thing. You will evacuate the civilians, won't you?" Suzaku asked.

" _If we get there in time since this is a bit last minute, we will but we should be able to warn them at least,_ " Zero said. He said something to someone else on the other end, sounding frustrated, and then said goodbye before hanging up.

 _Wonder who he was talking to,_ Suzaku wondered silently as he closed the phone and slipped it back into his pocket and began jogging back the way he had come.

 **. . .**

Kallen was trying to help Shirley put together the house for the cat that they had named Arthur, reaching into the main box and pulling out supplies while Shirley measured the area they were going to place it in to make sure that it fit.

"So how well do you know Lelouch?" Shirley asked.

"What? Why?" Kallen asked.

"You like him, don't you?" Shirley sounded sad when she said that.

Kallen sputtered, whirling around to stare at the orange-haired girl and momentarily falling out of character but she quickly put back on her sickly, feeble look. "Where did that come from? I barely _know_ him. He's pretty distant when he isn't around Nunnally or Suzaku, now that I think about it. Why do you think I like him?"

"I saw you guys kissing," Shirley exclaimed, turning around to stare at Kallen whose jaw had dropped.

"Kissing?!" Kallen protested. "We weren't…we've never…I've never been kissed before!"

"Don't lie. I saw you," Shirley protested.

"I'm telling you, Shirley, I don't know Lelouch enough to like him and I definitely didn't kiss him!"

It had to have been a misunderstanding, possibly with that little incident outside when Kallen had asked Lelouch if he could trace the number that had called her while she was in the bathroom interrogating Lelouch.

"Look, Shirley, I swear nothing happened between us. You probably know him better than I do," Kallen admitted. While he was not Zero, Lelouch was still an enigma in his own right. He was a Britannian, always so very distant and cold-faced unless he was around Nunnally and, now, Suzaku. It was as if he was wearing a series of masks; the bored student mask, the brother mask, the Britannian mask even, and Kallen didn't know which was real, or just how many more masks Lelouch had.

"Well, yeah, I suppose," Shirley said, lowering the tape measure to the table and picking up another piece of Arthur's house. "Honestly, I didn't like Lulu at the beginning when I first met him. He gave the impression that he was flippant, and the only thing he worked hard at was avoiding hard work. But, back when we were both freshmen, I happened to see him come upon a traffic accident. A driver rear-ended another car and was clearly at fault, but he tried to blame it on the elderly owners of the other car. Nobody tried to help them. And then Lulu helped out. He didn't do it so he could boast to his buddies or laugh about it later. He did it with the same bored expression he always wears. That's when I wondered, 'what's up with this guy? What goes on in his head? What does he want to do?' I really wanted to know, and am still in the process of finding out."

 _So I'm not the only one who can't figure Lelouch Lamperouge out,_ Kallen thought. She betted that the only one who would know the true Lelouch would be Nunnally and, even then, Kallen wasn't sure even shecould figure someone like Lelouch out.

She shook her head and pushed the thoughts out of her mind. What did she care? He was just a Britannian.

 _Even though he's friends with a Number?_ Her inner voice said but she pushed the thought aside too. Suzaku Kururugi may be a Number but he was also an Honorary Britannian and Kallen felt that he was a traitor because of that.

The door opened and Suzaku walked in, carrying a cat's toy. He paused. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

"No, we were just talking," Shirley said. "C'mon Kallen, let's finish Arthur's cat house. Where's Arthur?"

"Ow!" Suzaku winced, jerking his hand back and nursing the finger that Arthur just bit.

"Found him," Kallen said with a smile.

 **. . .**

C.C. watched as Lelouch, still in his school uniform, made his way toward the closet where he kept his Zero uniform. He was talking on the phone at the same time, giving orders from the sounds of it, though to who, C.C. wasn't sure. He was an interesting person, she would have to admit, and he certainly was ambitious since he did want to destroy all of Britannia.

She would have to keep watching him but she was sure that she had made the right choice in terms of who to pass her Code on too.

 _He has grown up, hasn't he?_

C.C. looked to the side so that Lelouch wouldn't see her lips moving as she whispered, "You've been rather quiet as of late. And don't tell me you're getting sentimental."

 _Of course not. I'm just pointing out the obvious. And I've been busy, watching everything, scolding Charles, watching V.V._

"Oh?"

 _…Something's changed with him. Have you noticed anything odd lately?_

C.C. thought about Suzaku. "Yes, with an old friend of Lelouch's," she murmured. "I can feel a power around him. I believe it might be a Geass."

 _Geass? But you already chose Lelouch…_

"It wasn't me."

 _V.V. then?_

"I don't think so. I think…that someone else might have survived and gone rogue or…and this could prove to be a huge problem…" C.C. trailed off.

 _What could be a…? Wait, you do not mean…Do you think_ They _have gotten involved?_

"If _They_ have then your plan is in jeopardy," C.C. murmured.

 _I'll warn Charles but…if_ They _have gotten personally involved, I doubt there is anything we can do to stop this friend of Lelouch's since he is bound to be under_ Their _protection._

"Possibly." C.C. cut the communication, watching as Lelouch, finally hung up the phone and tossed it onto the bed.

"Suzaku really couldn't have timed this better," Lelouch said, satisfaction in his amethyst eyes, so like Charles, though Lelouch would probably be furious if someone were to ever point that out.

"I take it you managed to evacuate the Saitama Ghetto?" C.C. asked.

"Practically. There are some who refuse to leave but, at least, they've gone to ground and won't come out until after the battle," Lelouch said.

"So you're still going?" C.C. asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Of course. This is my chance to get close to Cornelia," the former prince replied.

C.C. stood up and, pulling out the gun she had hidden under the covers and pointed it at Lelouch, causing the black-haired student to blink in surprise. "I can't have you go. I need you alive," she said.

"Kind of contradictory there, aren't you?" Lelouch said coolly.

"Oh, I don't plan on killing you. Maybe shoot out your leg so that you can't go anywhere, I'm not going to let you die before you fulfill your contract with me."

"You seem so certain that I'll die if I go," Lelouch said. "Do you have no confidence in my ability to win?"

"Considering who you're going against, I have every right to lack confidence in your ability to win," C.C. replied, turning the safety off the gun only to freeze when Lelouch pulled out his own gun and then pointed it at his head, explaining that he only lived because he had a purpose for living and he had to see it through.

C.C. debated whether she could disarm Lelouch before he pulled the trigger or whether she should just call his bluff. She decided that it wasn't worth it and, anyway, if the plan went south at Saitama then she would simply have to take matters into her own hands to make sure Lelouch wasn't captured or killed.

"Fine," she said, lowering the gun and clicking the safety back on. "I understand that this is something you have to do. Just don't die. You still have to fulfill your portion of our contract."

"It would help if you told me what it is I have to do," Lelouch said, lowering his own gun.

C.C. shrugged but said nothing, flopping back on Lelouch's bed and picking up the phone.

"What are you doing, witch?" Lelouch asked.

"Ordering pizza," C.C. said.

"With what money?"

C.C. flashed Lelouch's debit card, causing the former prince to scowl in irritation.

"Just don't spend all of my money," he growled and left the room, muttering under his breath since he knew there would be no point in trying to stop C.C. This wasn't the first time that she's stolen his debit card to order pizza after all.

Besides, it wasn't as if she could gain any weight or get sick or anything like that.

Being immortal did have some perks.

 **. . .**

The leader of the Yamato Alliance was a short, thin young man in his mid-twenties with short-cropped black hair. Kaname Ohgi didn't know very much about the young man—Itsuki Enoki—as he hadn't really been present whenever Naoto would speak to him and he had only been the second-in-command of the Yamato Alliance at the time. From what Ohgi had gathered with what little he knew, Enoki didn't seem like the kind of person who would work with someone he had just met. It was because of that that Ohgi hadn't thought the Yamato Alliance would even listen to Zero and agree to his plan to not only evacuate the ghetto but also team up with him and Ohgi's resistance.

Still, at the very least, the civilians would be safe.

"So why'd we have to evacuate again?" Tamaki asked, glancing toward where Zero was talking with a few members of the Yamato Alliance along with Enoki, coming up with a plan of attack for when Cornelia's forces launched their assault. Apparently, Cornelia was going to announce the attack before she actually went through with it.

"And how did Zero know about this anyway?" Yoshida wondered.

Ohgi shrugged. He didn't know.

Zero walked over to join them. "Go and gather everyone else and get into your positions," he said.

"Are you sure this'll work?" Tamaki asked warily. "I mean, won't she not attack if she notices that the ghetto's empty?"

"That's if she notices," Yoshida noted. "I mean it's not as if a lot of people come out at night in the ghetto. It's too dangerous and all that."

"That's true," Ohgi said thoughtfully. "But she isn't stupid. She might figure out what happened."

"Not until after it's too late," Zero said and turned around and walked away.

Enoki moved over to join Ohgi. "Man, where did ya find that guy?" he asked.

"He saved our asses back in the Shinjuku Ghetto," Ohgi said, turning to Enoki. "Though, I've been wondering, why did you agree to work for Zero?"

"Naoto trusted you, Ohgi, and if you trust Zero to see us through this battle alive then I believe ya," Enoki said. He lowered his voice and added, "There are quite a few in the Alliance who don't though and that's why they aren't too keen on following Zero's orders. I managed to convince them to, at least, give Zero a chance though."

He turned away and Ohgi heard him murmur, "I hope I made the right decision."

"I'm sure we'll be fine," he assured him.

"I hope so," Enoki said and jogged off to get into his position.

Ohgi returned to where the rest of his resistance group were located. They had insisted on being present to help evacuate the resistance but Zero hadn't exactly given them any orders beyond that. Then again, they weren't exactly prepared to fight against Cornelia's forces since they didn't have any Knightmares after the ones they had stolen at Shinjuku were mostly destroyed. The Yamato Alliance did have some Knightmares but not enough to share with Ohgi's resistance.

Also, there were members of his resistance group that weren't there at the moment. Kallen, for example, was back at Ashford Academy as she had been asked to stay behind to help the Student Council. She had wanted to come with but Zero insisted that it wasn't necessary. As it was, only Ohgi, Yoshida, and Tamaki were there to help with the evacuation.

Convincing the residents of the ghetto to leave had been difficult but, after they had seen Cornelia's forces move towards the ghetto, they decided that their lives were more important than what little material possessions they had or the decrepit homes they were forced to live in. Some were too stubborn and simply went to ground though but Ohgi resolved to let them know once the battle was over.

He didn't really like civilian causalities but he knew that it was very likely to happen in his fight to liberate Japan from Britannia's rule.

"Man, I wish we could help Enoki and the rest of 'em," Tamaki huffed.

"We are kinda outmatched since we lost those Sutherlands Zero gave us at Shinjuku," Yoshida reminded them.

"This sucks. I wanna kick some Britannian ass," Tamaki complained.

"C'mon. Let's get out of here before we're spotted," Ohgi said.

Tamaki, still scowling, and Yoshida nodded before the three of them hurried toward the outskirts of the ghetto.

 **. . .**

Back at Ashford Academy, Suzaku was walking around the Student Council Clubhouse, deep in thought, and didn't notice it when he walked into someone. "Oh, sorry," he said, stepping back.

"It's all right," Shirley, the orange-haired girl that Suzaku knew was in love with Lelouch—even if Lelouch was too clueless to notice himself—said with a small smile. "So, um, are you okay? You look like you've got something on your mind."

"I'm fine. I guess I haven't completely gotten used to attending Ashford yet," Suzaku lied, trying not to think about the last time he had seen Shirley in the old timeline, covered in her own blood. He pushed the thought away.

In truth, he had originally been thinking about the Lake Kawaguchi incident, which was the next incident that was going to happen if things went as they did in the old timeline. That was one event that Suzaku knew he wouldn't be able to warn Lelouch about, without revealing that he had more knowledge than he was supposed to, because it had come as a complete surprise for everyone.

"Mm, well, I'm sure you will in time," Shirley said with a kind smile. She paused and then, hesitantly, asked, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Suzaku said.

"How well do you know Lelouch?"

"I don't know everything about him," Suzaku admitted. "He lived with my family and me for a while before the invasion and we didn't exactly get along when we first met." _Which is a huge understatement,_ he thought with a wry smile. "It took us some weeks but we ended up pretty close before we got separated during the invasion."

"What was he like?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Um…" Shirley blushed and looked down.

Suzaku chuckled. "You love him," he said.

"What? No…No I…I mean…I…" Shirley stammered out.

"It's all right if you do, Shirley," Suzaku assured her. "Though I suggest you tell him. He's completely clueless right now."

"How did you know?"

"Dear, _everyone_ knows," Milly said suddenly, brightly and causing both Shirley and Suzaku to jump since they hadn't noticed the blonde's arrival. She grinned at them as she came to a stop next to the orangette.

Shirley's face resembled a tomato. "Wh…What do you mean?" she asked.

"Just what I said. I'm sure _everyone_ knows that you love Lelouch," Milly said.

"Except Lelouch himself," Suzaku added with a shrug.

Shirley was still flushing in embarrassment and she quickly changed the subject. "Um, Milly, is there anything else that needs to be done? 'Cause I told my parents I'd be home soon," she said.

"Nah, we're done. See ya tomorrow, Shirley," Milly said brightly.

"See you tomorrow," Shirley said and left the Student Council Clubhouse.

Milly also left, leaving Suzaku alone in the hallway. He shrugged and decided to head back to the A.S.E.E.C. base.

"Hello Suzaku Kururugi."

Suzaku jumped and jumped to the side, adopting an offensive stance as the figure that spoke stepped out of the shadows. The woman was young with long pale-blue hair that fell in waves down her back and over her shoulder. Her eyes were silver and her skin was pale as if she hadn't seen the sun in years. She was dressed in a white long-sleeved shirt and a flowing knee-length white skirt over knee-high white boots. Around her neck was a silver pendant in the shape of a set of angel wings curled around a circle. There was also a faint glow around her. For some odd reason, Suzaku felt similar to how he felt when the Divine had spoken to him right before he had been sent back in time.

"Who are you?" Suzaku asked, keeping his voice even as he relaxed his offensive stance, though was still prepared to defend himself if necessary.

"Relax, I am not here to harm you. You may call me Yukari," the blue-haired woman said.

"What do you want?"

Yukari smiled. "How is your Geass treating you?" she asked.

Suzaku froze and narrowed his eyes. "Let's talk somewhere more private," he said.

"Of course."

Suzaku led the way to one of the rooms in the clubhouse that wasn't being used at the moment before turning around to face Yukari as he closed the door behind him. "How do you know about that?" he asked.

Yukari giggled. "I was the one that gave it to you," she said.

"What?"

"I am Yukari, Guardian of Fate, one of the Divine's seven Guardians," Yukari said.

"Guardians?" Suzaku said in confusion, though he briefly remembered the Divine mentioning a Guardian when they spoke, not to mention that nightmare he had the night after Zero made his first appearance.

"Well, the Divine governs the entire World of C but we Guardians are tasked with guarding aspects of the World of C ourselves. If you see the Divine as God then we're like his angels," Yukari explained.

"Why are you here though?" he asked.

"For one reason, to help you figure out your Geass power," Yukari said.

Suzaku nodded.

"As you should already know, it's called Absolute Fate. I'm assuming you've used it already."

"I only saw a number floating above the head of the three people I've used it on. I think that number represents how many days that person has left to live," Suzaku said.

"You're correct but your Geass is more than that as you will soon realize. Even if you haven't seen her number yet, you should be…"

Suddenly, a burning sensation erupted in the back of Suzaku's left eye. "Gah!" He clutched at his eye as a flash of bright red light filled his vision.

 _He was floating in midair when, suddenly, he spotted Shirley walking down the street, talking on the phone. She paused at the corner of a street, waiting for the light to change, still chatting on her phone._

 _The light changed and Shirley started across the street._

 _Then the car came out of nowhere, barreling down the street, straight through the red light and Suzaku cried out when it slammed into Shirley, sending the startled girl flying up and over the car to crash hard on the street behind the car, a sharp_ snap _of her neck echoed in the silence._

Then there was another flash of red light and Suzaku found himself on his knees in the room where he had been speaking with Yukari, gasping. "W…What was that?" he asked.

"A vision," Yukari said. "That is what happens when the number of someone you know personally, or have seen the number of beforehand, reaches zero. You get a vision showing how they will die."

"But that means…Shirley!"

"Go," Yukari said.

Suzaku was already on his feet and bolting out of the room.

 **. . .**

Yukari smiled softly. "Yes, I do believe this timeline is in capable hands with Suzaku Kururugi," she said.

"But you never warned him about _her_ ," a voice sounded behind Yukari.

Yukari chuckled. "Dear Crono, you know as well as I do that, as a guardian, I can only inform, I cannot interfere. He will have to face _her_ eventually and that meeting can go many different ways. Hopefully, the more _tragic_ path that meeting may lead to will not happen," she said and then strode off, vanishing like mist in sunlight.

 **. . .**

There was a _boom_ and Lelouch winced as another of the Yamato Alliance's stolen Knightmares was destroyed. Unfortunately, the Alliance member had been unable to eject in time. That was the fourth time a member of the Alliance had been killed in a fight against Cornelia's forces.

The Yamato Alliance were putting up a good fight though. Hikari Enoki, for example, may not be an Ace but she certainly was holding her own in a fight against one Knightmare and Itsuki was no slouch either.

Lelouch, himself, was trying to find an opening to get closer to Cornelia's G1 Mobile Command Center. Thankfully, he had managed to gain control of a Sutherland, due to his Geass power, and was staying out of the fight right now. He frowned though as he drew closer to the command center.

 _Cornelia is recreating what happened at Shinjuku in order to draw me out. Since this is a trap, what is she trying to do? Does she think that I will try to board the G1 like I did with Clovis?_ He thought as he watched one of his plans go off without a hitch, successfully destroying a large group of enemy units.

Another explosion sounded as another tank was destroyed by one of the Yamato Alliance's stolen Knightmares.

" _There are too many of them,_ " one of the Yamato Alliance members cried out.

" _We're holding our own. Remain in position,_ " Itsuki shouted, firing a Slash Harken into one of the Sutherlands he was fighting and then speeding to the side to avoid the spray of bullets from the Sutherland's rifle.

Hikari darted forward, sending her Slash Harken into the joint of the Sutherland's leg and yanking it out, damaging the leg. Itsuki glided forward swiftly and smashed his Sutherland's fist into the Sutherland's Factsphere while Hikari took out another one of its joints, causing the Sutherland to wobble and collapse and leading to the pilot being forced to eject.

" _Hell yeah! This is so much better than sitting around and doing nothing!_ " Hikari cheered.

" _This isn't over yet, Hikari,_ " Itsuki warned.

" _Yeah, yeah. Gees, this is my first fight. Don't spoil my fun,_ " Hikari huffed.

" _Sir, sir, we've lost Hachiro,_ " one of Itsuku's followers shouted in a panic.

" _Stand strong, Masaki,_ " Itsuki called back.

" _I'm trying but the others are starting to worry. We're vastly outnumbered. Zero! What's our next set of orders? We've drawn them onto the bridge,_ " the one called Masaki called.

Lelouch activated his radio. "Fire your Slash Harkens at the support system. Take out that bridge," he ordered.

" _Yes, sir_!" Masaki called back and there was a boom as the bridge collapsed, causing a large number of 'LOST' signs to appear on the screen. Lelouch smirked. _What will you do now, sister?_ He thought.

As he waited, he thought about Suzaku's warning, about how it was a trap, and pressed his lips together. _If it's a trap then she will be expecting me to fall back with the troops and sneak behind enemy lines, just as I had done with Clovis. Well, not this time, sister,_ he thought as he watched Cornelia withdraw closer to the G1 base.

" _She's retreating?_ " one of Itsuki's followers exclaimed.

" _Woohoo! We've got the Goddess of Victory on the run! Take that, ya Britannian bitch!_ " Hikari cheered.

Lelouch activated the radio. "That's not it," he said calmly, relaxing in the cockpit. "She's trying to draw me out now by withdrawing her troops because she believes I will pull the same thing I did with Clovis at the Shinjuku Ghetto."

" _She set a trap for you, in other words,_ " Itsuki said.

 _And if it hadn't been for Suzaku, I probably would have not figured out it was a trap until it was too late,_ Lelouch thought.

"Exactly, but I don't plan on falling for it. What's your status?" Lelouch asked.

" _We've lost quite a large number of members of the Alliance. I don't know the exact number but we're down to three Sutherlands: mine, Hikari's, and Masaki's. We're also extremely low on equipment and ammo and I only have about five minutes left of energy,_ " Itsuki said. " _Hikari?_ "

" _I have ten minutes left,_ " Hikari said.

" _I'm on empty. I can't do shit where I am_ ," Masaki said.

Lelouch pressed his lips together. They were badly outnumbered, didn't know how many members of the Alliance were left, and were running low on supplies. _Damn it! Looks like you win this one, Cornelia,_ he thought. "Call the retreat. We'll meet up on the outskirts to assess the situation," he ordered.

" _But we have them in retreat! Why don't we just attack now?_ " Hikari protested.

" _I agree with Zero. Just because Cornelia's called for her forces to retreat doesn't mean that she's defenseless. She hasn't even sent the Glaston Knights out yet and none of us have the energy or the firepower to fight them. Retreat, Hikari,_ " Itsuki ordered.

" _Yes, sir_ ," Hikari muttered, sounding disappointed but Lelouch watched as she ejected from the Sutherland she was in and Itsuki, after placing the call to any members that were still alive to retreat, followed suit.

 **. . .**

Suzaku ran into the ballroom of the clubhouse, nearly bowling Milly over as a result.

"Whoa, what's your rush, Suzaku?" Milly asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Where's Shirley?" Suzaku asked.

"Hmm, oh, she's heading home, remember? You know that she already likes Lelouch though, right? I don't think you'll have much chance with her," Milly admitted.

Suzaku's cheeks reddened but he shook his head, focusing on the vision he had just seen. "That's not why…oh never mind. Which way does she live?"

Milly must have noticed the panicked and worried look on Suzaku's face because she told him.

With quick "thanks", Suzaku took off in the direction that the tall blonde had indicated. He wasn't even breathing hard by the time he spotted the orange-haired girl in the sidewalk, her phone pressed against her ear just as the vision had shown. Suzaku activated his Geass to confirm what Yukari said; sure enough, floating above Shirley's head was a golden zero surrounded by golden flames.

 _No, I will stop you from dying,_ Suzaku thought, deactivating his Geass and darting forward as Shirley reached the corner and waited for the light to change. When it did, Suzaku had managed to catch up. He grabbed her arm and pulled her back onto the sidewalk, causing her to yelp in surprise. She looked about ready to strike at Suzaku but then her eyes widened as, not even seconds later, the car ran straight through the red light and sped right past where they were standing, swerving as if the person who was driving was intoxicated.

Suzaku breathed a sigh of relief and released Shirley, checking her number as she stared at the street in confusion. Shirley's number was now at _615_. It was still a low number, less than two years away, but it was better.

"Suzaku?" Shirley had turned to face him and Suzaku quickly deactivated his Geass.

"Are you all right?" Suzaku asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for stopping me there. You saw that car coming, huh?"

"Yeah. He didn't look like he was gonna stop," Suzaku lied.

"Mm. Thank you though. So why're you here anyway? Did Milly come up with something suddenly and ask you to come and get me?"

Suzaku hadn't thought of a good excuse for why he had chased after Shirley without telling her the truth. He thought quickly and then spotted an antique store standing next to them. "Oh, I actually just came because I wanted to check out this antique store," he lied.

"Oh. I didn't know you liked antiques," Shirley commented.

"Yeah, well, some things are pretty interesting to look at," Suzaku said lamely.

Shirley didn't seem to have noticed because she smiled brightly. "Well, I'll leave you to that. Thanks, again, for stopping me," she said and, after giving him a quick hug of gratitude, walked off. Suzaku watched her go before glancing at the antique shop and shrugged, deciding he might as well do as he said he was going to do.

 **. . .**

In an abandoned subway tunnel near the outskirts of the Saitama Ghetto, Lelouch met up with the remaining members of the Yamato Alliance. He had to admit he was surprised that there were only four; Itsuki, his sister, Masaki, and a fourth person named Satoru Sato.

"I think this is all who survived," Itsuki said grimly.

"At least there were some survivors," Lelouch said. "It could have been worse."

"Not by much," Satoru huffed, holding one of his arms; it looked as if his shoulder was dislocated. Hikari moved to Satoru's side, gripped his arm and reset it, causing Satoru to hiss in pain.

"Still, we did manage to hold our own, somewhat, against Cornelia. We gotta be proud of that," Hikari said with a smirk.

"You can do much more," Lelouch said. "I did not just come here to help you fight against Cornelia nor just to evacuate the civilians. I also came to offer you the chance to join me."

"Join you?" Itsuki repeated.

"Yes. I plan on going against Britannia and help liberate Japan but I need allies. If you wish, you may join our fight. As I have already told Ohgi's resistance, Britannia will not fall to terrorism and terrorism will not liberate Japan from Britannia's clutches. It is your choice. You do not have to decide now but if you do decide to join us, send word to Ohgi."

"Sure thing. I think we should discuss this a bit more," Itsuki said.

"I understand."

"Thanks for your help though, Zero," Itsuki added.

Lelouch inclined his head before he turned around and strode away, contacting Ohgi as he did so to let him know that he was heading back.

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Blaze: well, that was chapter 6. Suzaku's Geass has been discussed, Shirley was saved, Lelouch may or may not get four brand-new allies, all in all, I think it was a good chapter**

 **Bakura: yeah, yeah, don't you have another message about your other** _ **Code Geass**_ **story?**

 **Blaze: yeah, I do. I'm going to be posting the first chapter of** _ **Rise of the Black King**_ **soon after I post this chapter**

 **Bakura: whatever**

 **Suzaku: what's going to happen in the first chapter of RotBK?**

 **Lelouch: (glares at Blaze and stalks off)**

 **Blaze: (shouts) it was necessary!**

 **Suzaku: (blinks in confusion)**

 **Bakura: (leans over and tells Suzaku about what happens in the first chapter of RotBK)**

 **Suzaku: well, that explains why he's not happy**

 **Blaze: It. Was. Necessary!**

 **Suzaku: (holds up hands defensively) I never said it wasn't! I'm just pointing out that's why Lelouch is mad, that's all**

 **Lelouch: (walks back into room) Blaze,** _ **lend me your flaming machete**_

 **Suzaku: (snatches flaming machete out of Blaze's hand before she can hand it over) no! No flaming machete for you!**

 **Lelouch: in actual canon, it was because of V.V. that my Geass went out of control and I Geassed Euphie so it was V.V.'s fault. I would have never done that to Euphie had it not been for him**

 **Suzaku: (thinks about it for a long moment and tosses flaming machete at Lelouch) you've got a point**

 **Lelouch: (catches flaming machete, grins, and runs out the door) oh dear Emperor and dear V.V.!**

 **Charles and V.V.: (curse and take off running)**

 **Lelouch: (runs after them laughing demonically)**

 **Suzaku: (sighs) sadist but it was my own fault this time**

 **Blaze: (Geasss command fades away) Lulu has my flaming machete again! Damn it! Bakura! Go steal me another flaming machete!**

 **Bakura: (grins and takes off)**

 **Blaze: well, that was chapter 6 and, as I said earlier in this author's note, the first chapter of my second** _ **Code Geass**_ **fic, entitled** _ **Rise of the Black King,**_ **is going to be posted within a few minutes of this chapter being posted. For this chapter, I hope that you enjoyed it. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**


	7. Stage 07: Hostage Situation

**Yay! I've gotten my computer back and it's all fixed now! As a result, I am updating both this story and** _ **Rise of the Black King**_ **today and will be updating my Yu-Gi-Oh! GX story** _ **White Radiance**_ **possibly tomorrow or Tuesday (it depends on when I get it back from by beta-reader).**

 **Anyway, here is the Lake Kawaguchi chapter with the introduction of an important new OC character, a look into the perspective of another important OC character whom was introduced in the first chapter, and a hotel building blowing up, somewhat, because explosions are fun.**

 **Bakura: and you call me crazy**

 **Oh dear Bakura. I've always been crazy.**

 **Bakura: hn, I suppose so**

 **Anyway, seven people reviewed the last chapter.**

 **Thank you to** _ **AJ123, Demons Anarchy of Pride, Shadow-Shinobi666, Shimmering-Sky, Miraculous Messiah, ChristieMouse18,**_ **and** _ **Saint Sita**_ **for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are great.**

 **Here is Stage 07 and I hope that you enjoy it. As usual, reviews are much appreciated.**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 _"You know, there was one thing that I wish I'd been able to do before all of this happened while I was still in Japan," Nunnally said softly as she sniffed at one of the white roses she had picked before turning to gaze at him as he stood next to her._

 _"What was that?" he asked._

 _"I would've liked to leave the Tokyo Settlement with Big Brother and…just…I dunno, go to the beach or something," Nunnally admitted with a faint smile. "Or even visit the mountains. I mean, I know I wouldn't have been able to hike the trails but I still would've wanted to go there, if only to experience more that Japan had to offer."_

 _He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sure you'll be able to visit Japan once it finishes rebuilding," he suggested._

 _"Maybe," Nunnally said. "Though I don't know how people would feel about having a former Viceroy paying them a visit, especially not when the first thing I plan on doing when I become Empress is turning all the Areas into Special Administrated Zones. Don't you think that'd be a good idea, Suzaku?"_

 _He smiled sadly as he thought about his beloved Euphie's plan that had already been tried twice but he had a feeling that Nunnally would be able to do it, if simply because she was going to be the Empress. "I think it is," he said._

 _"Euphie would've wanted that," Nunnally said. "And I think Big Brother would've too. I mean, that whole plan of his was to create peace, right?"_

 _"Yeah," he murmured, sadness entering his voice as he thought about his love and the brother he never had._

 _Nunnally reached out and placed a hand on his arm. "C'mon, Sister Cornelia invited me to join her for tea. Would you like to come with?" she asked._

 _"I don't wish to impose…"_

 _"You won't. I want you there, Suzaku."_

 _He hesitated but nodded. "All right, Nunnally," he said and, taking hold of Nunnally's wheelchair, guided her out of the gardens._

 _ **. . .**_

 **Stage 07**

 **Hostage Situation**

The plane landed at the airport of the Tokyo Settlement. She lifted her head from the magazine she was reading as the flight attendant announced that they could leave now. She closed the magazine and stuffed it into her bag, her sunglasses hiding her eyes from the rest of the passengers.

She stood up and made her way out of the plane and into the airport, giggling when she spotted a tall, dark-green haired young man running over to wrap his arms around the blonde girl that had been in front of him. _Ahh, young love. That will happen to me someday soon or it won't, it depends on how things go,_ she thought.

She happily walked over to the baggage claim, pausing and then taking a step to the right just as a man in a suit came barreling past him, dragging a rolling suitcase behind him and talking rapidly on his phone.

Once she claimed her baggage, she gazed around. Her old friend would either be waiting at the east entrance or at the west entrance, it just depended on which route he decided to take that morning.

It really did cause quite a headache, trying to differentiate between all the different timelines. After all, they were so irrevocably linked, twisting together like a braid.

When she had first been granted her power, she had been very young and part of an Order of others like her. She had made a couple of friends during that time but never really got close to any of them. She couldn't remember much about her time with the Order, only that she had spent quite a bit of time with the one who gave her the power she possessed. She also didn't remember much about her past as the one who gave her the power she possessed told her that she was better off within the Order.

Her power was revealed to be Absolute Future and she was only treated to visions of the future that directly affected her and anyone around her or whoever she was close to. It was with those visions that she learned about another who had a power similar to her, her visions told her that she would eventually come into contact with him. But then her power had started getting out of control; as a result, she started seeing _all_ possible outcomes of events in which she, anyone around her, anyone she was close to or anyone she simply knew were affected. It pretty much meant that she had a lot of headaches but she definitely wanted to make some of the outcomes she saw come true, especially the ones involving that handsome boy with a power like hers.

She giggled at the thought of that handsome, green-eyed Japanese boy.

She would track him down but, first things first, she was in the mood for some licorice.

"Lady Bree," a tall, broad-shouldered tanned man with thick dark red hair and pale-red eyes walked toward her, bowing at the waist. Bruno was someone from her past who'd found and helped her when she'd fled from the Order a few years ago but had only been a bodyguard, nothing more.

Bree giggled. "No need to be so formal, Bruno," she said. "C'mon. I wanna see where a certain someone may or may not attend school. Take me to Ashford Academy. Oh and can you find me some licorice too?"

"As you command, my Lady," Bruno said and, after he bought Bree a bag of licorice, the two of them walked out of the airport and toward the car that Bruno had driven there.

 _But what if he isn't attending Ashford Academy this time around? There were like three different timelines in which he didn't go to school? Is this one of them? Guess I'll just have to find out for myself,_ Bree thought.

The drive to Ashford Academy took fifteen minutes but, by the time they had arrived, they were just in time for classes to be let out for the day. She peered through the window, looking for the brunet who had appeared in so many of her visions; the one who held a power similar to hers.

A smile broke out onto her face when she caught sight of the brunet standing on the sidewalk next to the wrought-iron gates but then her eyes went cold and a scowl twisted her lips when she noticed who else was with him. She glared at the familiar tall, willowy black-haired form of Lelouch vi Britannia.

 _Him! He's the one who_ always _gets in the way of my plans, every single fucking time! Every single fucking timeline, he's always there to fuck it up!_ She thought savagely, glaring at the exiled prince who was talking with the brunet casually.

She forced herself to calm down because she knew that all she needed to do was get Lelouch vi Britannia away from the one who had a power similar to hers and that would allow the plan she had crafted to be completed. Even though the outcome would vary, she knew that the outcome would be in her favor if Lelouch vi Britannia was out of the picture.

 _I don't plan on killing him. That would alter too much. I'll just get him out of the picture and what better way to get him out of the picture of my plans for the one who has a similar power to me than for him to discover a certain betrayal that will happen._

She giggled. She had seen that betrayal happen as a result of a certain event and, even if that event happened differently, she had no doubt the outcome would remain the same. Even if it didn't, if the exiled prince knew that his friend was going to betray him, Bree had no doubt the exiled prince would cut ties with his friend.

But that would have to come later. She needed to come up with a plan and she also needed some painkillers. The last dosage of painkillers that she had taken had worn off and the constant headache she had to deal with because of her power was back.

"Take me to the hotel, Bruno," she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," Bruno replied and drove away from the Academy.

 **. . .**

"Are you sure you won't be able to come by for dinner?" Lelouch asked as he and Suzaku stood just outside of the Ashford Academy campus. They had arrived there simply because they had been walking and talking at the same time and hadn't realized where they were going until they stopped.

"I wish I could but Lloyd has me testing out some new upgrades he added to the _Lancelot_ and it's bound to take several hours," Suzaku said.

"All right. I'll let Nunnally know. Maybe next week sometime then? I would say this weekend but Nunnally is going with Milly and the others on their trip to Lake Kawaguchi," Lelouch said.

Suzaku froze at that, worry crawling across his emerald-green eyes before it faded and his face went impassive but Lelouch frowned at the look. Though Suzaku had hidden it rather quickly, Lelouch had still seen that look of worry. It made him wonder just why Suzaku would be so worried about Nunnally going to Lake Kawaguchi.

Then again, there were so many mysteries surrounding his old friend; while Saitama had distracted him for a bit, Lelouch still had Suzaku's words to him after the Cat Hunt on his mind. Suzaku had told him point blank that he was able to keep secrets and would keep his and it made Lelouch wonder if Suzaku knew he was Zero.

He hadn't had a chance to confront Suzaku about that yet though but he planned on doing that as soon as he could.

"You're not going with?" the brunet asked, breaking the exiled prince out of his thoughts.

Lelouch shook his head. "I have plans this weekend. What about you?"

"The same." The worry that Suzaku had hidden earlier now appeared in his voice. "I'm surprised you're letting Nunnally go without you. I mean you are pretty over-protective. I think Milly called you a sisacon one time."

Lelouch's eye twitched. "I'm _not_ a sisacon," he growled.

Suzaku chuckled, holding up his hands defensively. "I never said you were. I'm just saying that's what Milly said," he said.

Lelouch relaxed. "But it'll be fine. Milly and the others will keep an eye on her and Sayoko is going with anyway," he said.

"Is Kallen going?" Suzaku asked.

Lelouch shook his head. "No. She's got a couple of doctor's appointments that weekend," he lied.

"Mm. Well, I'd better get going or Lloyd'll get upset," Suzaku said and, with a wave, he jogged away.

Lelouch walked away as well but the only reason he was leaving was because he had some things he needed to settle with some rich nobleman who owed him a favor.

 **. . .**

Kenji Sato yawned as he walked down the sidewalk of the Tokyo Settlement. In his hands, he was carrying a couple of bags of food. As the one who drew the shortest straw, Kenji had been drafted into getting dinner, that didn't taste like crap, for the rest of the Honorary Britannians in the division he had been transferred to. The only reason he had been transferred was because, along with Suzaku, he was the only one who had survived the incident in the Shinjuku Ghetto.

There hadn't been much improvement form his old brigade to the new one. The only big difference was that his new commanding officer was a bit more tolerable of Honorary Britannians than his last one. But he and his fellow privates were bored out of their skulls because they hadn't been given any new missions since the Shinjuku Ghetto incident.

Kenji knew that Cornelia didn't really like Numbers that much and, while he didn't like it, he knew that it wouldn't change. He hated being bored though, which was why he hadn't complained when he had been tasked with getting everyone dinner. At least it gave him something to do.

Kenji was someone who got bored easily. He always needed to be doing something, even if it was as simple as tapping a pencil against something, which got on his fellow privates' nerves at times. He just couldn't sit still at times, which made basic training a nightmare. To this day, Kenji had no idea how he actually graduated from basic training when his behavioral problems had gotten his drill sergeant on his case more than once.

He rounded the corner and was surprised when he spotted a familiar brunet walking toward him. "Suzaku! Hey!" he greeted his former bunkmate.

Suzaku smiled and walked over to join him. "Kenji, it's been a while," he said.

"Yeah, it has. How's the Engineering Corps treating ya?" Kenji asked, shifting his grip on the bags filled with dinner and trying to keep the jealousy out of his tone. He wanted to say he wasn't jealous of his old bunkmate's promotion but he would be lying if he did. He and Suzaku were among the students of their division who got the highest marks during knightmare training and Kenji was every bit as good as Suzaku. And yet he was the one with the promotion…

Kenji shoved the thought out of his mind. It wasn't as if Suzaku was shoving the news into his face every time he heard it but that did little to quench the small kernel of jealousy that he felt.

"Fine. What's up with you?" Suzaku asked.

"I got transferred to another division. The commanding officer's a bit nicer to us Honorary Britannians so it's a bit of a step up," Kenji said.

"That's good," Suzaku said. "I hate to cut this reunion short, Kenji, but I've gotta go. I was supposed to be at the A.S.E.E.C.'s headquarters five minutes ago."

"Oh, right, go ahead. I'll see ya later, maybe." Kenji said.

"Yeah, see you, Kenji," Suzaku said and jogged off.

Kenji made his way back to the barracks and, after giving the food to the rest of his companions, he retreated to the dorm he had been given. His bunkmate wasn't there, probably enjoying dinner but Kenji wasn't that hungry.

He laid down on the bed, gazing up at the bunk above his head, his fingers tapping the bed beside him as his thoughts drifted. Boredom always brought about time to think and when his mind started thinking, it almost always drifted to thoughts of his family, especially his brother. Thinking about him, Kenji got up and moved to his footlocker, searching through it, and pulling out the locket.

The locket had a picture of him and his family, taken before the invasion of Japan and Kenji had kept it with him always since his mother had given it to him the day he left to start Basic Training. It was a prized possession and a reminder of his reason for joining the Britannian Army.

Speaking of his family, Kenji had been terrified that they had been caught up in the battle that occurred in the Saitama Ghetto a few days earlier. He was relieved when word spread that the entire ghetto had been evacuated; he was sure that meant that his parents were fine.

He was also worried about his brother though. Though he had tried to keep it a secret, Kenji knew that his brother Satoru had connections with the Yamato Alliance, the terrorist cell that existed within the Saitama Ghetto. He hadn't told anyone because Satoru was his baby brother; he didn't want his baby brother to get hurt or killed and he knew that was what would happen if he was ever captured.

He had tried getting into contact with Satoru whenever he went home to visit his family but they were never home at the same time and the letters he left with his parents were never answered. As there had been no news on the destruction of the Yamato Alliance, like there had been when the Viceroy destroyed the Blood of the Samurai terrorist cell the week before, Kenji held on to the hope that his brother was still alive.

He sighed as he moved back to his bed, turning the locket around in his hand. He and his brother hadn't exactly parted on good terms. Satoru was upset with him for applying for the Honorary Britannian system, stating that he was betraying Japan and his own family.

 _"You're selling your pride to become a dog for Britannia! You're no brother of mine!_ "

Those had been the last words that Satoru had said to him and they hurt. When they were growing up, Kenji and Satoru were virtually inseparable and Kenji still cared about his baby brother but it was obvious their opinion on the Honorary Britannian system, and on Britannia as a whole, differed largely.

Kenji could only hold on to the faint hope that his brother would see reason soon and hopefully before he ended up getting himself killed pursing such a foolish dream.

 **. . .**

"This is going to be so much fun," Shirley exclaimed as the train continued its silent journey to the Lake Kawaguchi Convention Center Hotel. It was Friday evening and they weren't very far from their destination. Nunnally was looking forward to it too; she had been surprised when her brother agreed to let her go but she was grateful.

"I know. I've never left the Tokyo Settlement before," she admitted.

She felt Shirley squeeze her hand. "I've never been to Lake Kawaguchi so I'm sure both of us are gonna have a great time," she said.

"Yeah. It's gonna be fun," Milly said excitedly. "It's a shame Suzaku and Lelouch couldn't come though. Wonder why?"

"Big Brother said he had plans and Suzaku has to work," Nunnally said.

"Um, what about Kallen?" Nina asked quietly.

"She said she had a couple of doctors' appointments this weekend that she couldn't reschedule," Milly said. She clapped her hands together and added, "Okay, so what's first on our agenda when we get to the hotel? I think we're going be arriving about half an hour before our check-in time so we'll have time to do something else. Maybe grab a bite to eat or go shopping?"

"Dinner sounds good," Nunnally said.

"I could go for some food," Shirley said.

"Me too," Nina said quietly.

"Then it's settled. We're getting dinner and then we're gonna check in and have some fun!" Milly said cheerily. "Shame none of the boys could come. I was thinking of hitting the pool after we got settled in and I think Lelouch would have liked seeing Shirley in a bathing suit, especially since she's filling out in all the right places."

" _Madam President!_ " Shirley cried and Nunnally was positive that she was blushing like crazy but Milly just chuckled.

 **. . .**

Suzaku was beyond worried as he wandered through the A.S.E.E.C.'s headquarters. He hadn't expected Nunnally to be part of Milly's group that were heading toward the Lake Kawaguchi Convention Center Hotel. That hadn't happened the first time around and he was at a loss as to what caused it to happen that time around.

 _Could the changes I've made so far really be affecting the timeline already, even if they have been incredibly small? I mean, the only thing I really did for Saitama was get Lelouch to evacuate the civilians and then, before that when Zero made his first appearance, all I did was agree to act as a double agent rather than completely rejecting Zero's offer._

He just didn't know. He supposed that one simple change could cause a lot of things to be altered; that was the nature of the butterfly effect. At least that was how he understood that effect. He sighed and found himself grateful that he had decided to check the numbers of everyone who was going to Lake Kawaguchi a few days earlier. All of their numbers were pretty high, at least a couple of years, though Suzaku was a bit worried about Nina's number; right now, it was at _28_.

He couldn't recall what happened in a month's time but he knew that it was after Narita but before he had become Euphie's Knight. He frowned because he briefly remembered that the only real threat that had arrived during the gap in time from Narita to his Knighting ceremony was Mao.

Mao was one of C.C.'s contractors who had been granted the Geass of Absolute Thought. He had been obsessed with C.C. and had hated Lelouch intensely, using both Shirley and Nunnally against the exiled prince. He had also managed to dig into Suzaku's mind and pull out the memories that he had not wanted to relive at that time, including the murder of his father.

His father's death was something that still affected Suzaku to that day, though not quite as bad as before. Perhaps it was because he had buried the pain beneath the other pain he had been forced to endure; Euphie's death, the deaths of all those innocents with the .I.J.A. bombing on the Tokyo Settlement, Lelouch's assassination, the People United Against Britannia's surprise attack during Nunnally's coronation ceremony…

Suzaku knew that if he did end up helping Lelouch out last time, and he would if things did go as they had last time and Nunnally ended up being used as a hostage by Mao against Lelouch, then he would have to hope that Mao wouldn't reveal the truth about his knowledge of the future.

 _But maybe it would help if Lelouch knew about the future. I'm sure he already suspects I already know about him being Zero and it could help,_ Suzaku thought but pushed the thought away. While it might help, he just didn't know how Lelouch would react to learning about everything that might occur, especially Euphie's death, Suzaku's betrayal, the F.L.E.I.J.A, and his own death. He bit his lip; as it was, he didn't even know if Lelouch would believe him if he did tell him.

 _But if Nina is supposed to die in less than thirty days, I'll have to take into consideration that Mao might be behind it, unless another threat crops up around that time,_ Suzaku thought.

He walked into the engineering hangar and noted that Lloyd was running around, looking eager as he called out orders to his technicians. He turned to Cecile, though he had an idea of what was going on.

"Something's happened. Cornelia wants us to join her and the rest of her forces at Lake Kawaguchi," Cecile explained.

Suzaku grimaced. For once in his life, he was actually thankful that Lelouch had created the Black Knights; if he hadn't, Suzaku wasn't entirely sure that the hostages would have gotten out alive, especially since Cornelia wasn't one to negotiate with the terrorists.

Another thought entered his mind, one he hadn't thought of before.

 _Is Euphie with them this time around?_

 **. . .**

The two-story van-like vehicle that Lelouch had obtained from that nobleman that owed him a favor looked out of place amidst the rubble of the Shinjuku Ghetto. Thankfully, the area that Lelouch had brought it to, or rather the driver he had Geassed had brought it to, was empty. Now, Lelouch, clad in his Zero outfit, was waiting for the arrival of his future Black Knights.

It wasn't long before they arrived. The group was slightly larger than Lelouch had originally thought but that was only because of the four survivors of the Yamato Alliance who, after a few days of deliberation, had agreed to join Zero's group.

"Whoa, look at this place," Tamaki exclaimed.

"Look at that TV," Naomi Inoue said, gesturing to the large flatscreen on the wall.

"And a jukebox," Yoshida noted.

"Just where did you get this?" Hikari asked, turning to Lelouch. She was tall with long, black hair that she kept in a ponytail and the same brown eyes as her brother Itsuki. Beside her stood Masaki Akiyama, a teen that looked around sixteen with olive-green hair and pale-blue eyes, and Satoru Sato, a teenager that looked about two years younger than Lelouch with light-blue hair and pale-gray eyes. Masaki and Satoru were the youngest members of the people gathered in the van.

"I borrowed it from a nobleman who owed me a favor," Lelouch replied calmly. "This will be our organization's new hideout."

"Well, I don't know about ya but I'm gonna check out that TV," Tamaki said, throwing himself into a seat, grabbing the remote, and turning the television on. At that instant, a news reporter appeared on the screen with a tall hotel resting on the middle of a lake behind her.

" _I'm here, in front of the Lake Kawaguchi Convention Center Hotel. The hotel jackers have identified themselves as the Japan Liberation Front. Members of the Sakuradite Allocation Meeting, most notably, Chairman James, were taken hostage as well as several tourists and hotel employees. This footage was taken by the perpetrators…_ " A moment later, the footage of the hostages was on the screen and Lelouch felt fear and anger rise up within him when he caught sight of his little sister. He heard Kallen gasp and murmur, "the student council" under her breath. He, too, had noticed that Milly, Nina, and Shirley were there along with Sayoko who was crouched by Nunnally's wheelchair, her eyes flicking from one of the terrorists to another.

" _…in it, you can clearly see Chairman James, including some students. The leader of the group claims to be Lieutenant-Colonel Kusakabe of the now defunct Japanese military. Sakuradite, an essential component in the manufacture of high-temperature super conductors, is a vital strategic resource that directly affects world security. Area 11 is the largest producer of this material, providing 70% of the world's total supply. Here at the yearly national meeting of Sakuradite producers, it will be determined how this resource will be distributed among the world's nations. It's no exaggeration to say that the outcome determines the balance of global power between Britannia and other countries. It is believed that the terrorists are using world interest in the annual gathering to their advantage by carrying out this violent hotel takeover_ ," the reporter finished.

"Man, the J.L.F. have made their move, eh?" Yoshida noted.

"Looks like it," Sugiyama agreed.

"They're easily the biggest anti-Britannian group there is," Ohgi said, though everyone already knew that.

"I bet their pride's hurt now that Zero's here," Hikari said, sounding amused by that.

Itsuki pressed his lips together as he studied the Britannians. "So are we gonna do anything about this?" he asked, turning to gaze at Zero.

"Why should we? I mean, while I do kinda feel bad for 'em, they're just Britannians," Tamaki said.

Lelouch gave Tamaki a withering glare. It was probably a good thing that he was wearing a mask, otherwise, he was pretty sure he would have set Tamaki on fire with how hard he was glaring at him. He kept his calm, though, reminding himself that they didn't know just how important some of those hostages were to him, in particular, Nunnally.

Keeping his voice level, Lelouch said, "Their heritage is not their fault. How they act and how they view the world is simply a consequence of how they were raised. They had no choice of who their parents are any more than you or I did. To condemn them simply because they are Britannian is to become like the Britannians who condemn the Japanese simply for being Japanese. It's hypocritical."

Tamaki fell silent, unable to respond to that.

"Are we gonna do something about this?" Masaki asked.

"I will continue monitoring the situation. For now, you can start unpacking everything," Lelouch said, his voice was calm while his mind was rapidly working through different plans and scenarios to deal with the current situation at Lake Kawaguchi, especially considering just who was among the hostages. He knew that Nunnally would only be safe so long as the terrorists didn't recognize her but he wasn't going to risk his little sister's life.

"Hey, Zero, I found these upstairs," Ohgi said, a little while later after Shirley's father had come onto the television wanting to know if his daughter was okay. He came down the stairs with a box. "Do you want me to pass 'em out to everyone?"

"Yes," Lelouch replied.

"What are they?" Hikari asked, peering at the box curiously.

"Uniforms."

"What? I mean, as far as the gear goes, it looks pretty hip but we're just a resistance group," Ohgi said, confused.

"Wrong," Lelouch said firmly, turning his gaze away from the hotel as he put the finishing touches of his plan in his mind. "We are no longer merely a simple resistance group."

"Then what are we?"

"What we are trying to become, no, what we will become: Knights for Justice," Lelouch said.

"What do you mean, Zero?" Kallen asked.

"We will protect the innocent and we will demonstrate that to the entire world tonight when we rescue those hostages being held by Lieutenant-Colonel Kusakabe," Lelouch declared.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, and just how the hell are we gonna do that?" Masaki exclaimed.

Lelouch's lips pulled back into a smirk as he outlined his plan for them.

 **. . .**

Suzaku hated feeling helpless. Just like last time, he couldn't do anything but stand on the lakeshore, watching the hotel, and hope that the student council members, and Nunnally, were safe and would get out of there alive. Even though he knew they got out of this situation alive the last time, he still couldn't help but worry, mostly due to the fact that Nunnally was there this time around.

"Suzaku, are you okay?" Cecile asked, coming up to Suzaku's side.

"I'm fine, Cecile," he assured the indigo-haired young woman. "I suppose I'm a bit worried."

"You have friends inside, don't you?"

"Yeah, and…I just don't trust these terrorists and I don't want anything to happen to the hostages," Suzaku admitted.

"They'll be fine, I'm sure. By the way, do you happen to know where Lloyd is?"

"Last I saw, he was working on some last minute updates to the _Lancelot_ ," Suzaku replied.

"Oh. Have you had anything to eat yet, Suzaku? I know it's pointless to try to get Lloyd to eat when he's working," Cecile said. "I made a new sandwich; it has strawberries, pickles, and wasabi in it."

 _That's an odd combination but then, this is Cecile I'm talking about. She means well but her cooking isn' too great._ "I'm not very hungry right now, Cecile, but thank you anyway," Suzaku assured her.

"Well, all right, if you change your mind, just let me know," Cecile said with a smile before she walked off, probably to track down Lloyd. Suzaku decided to go with her; perhaps Lloyd would have something for him to do.

"Ah, there you are," Lloyd greeted Suzaku brightly.

"Do you have something for me to do?" Suzaku asked.

"Yes, yes. I need you to help recalibrate the _Lancelot'_ s systems to take into account the new update," Lloyd said.

"On it." Suzaku jogged toward the _Lancelot,_ glancing briefly at the hotel that rested at the heart of the lake but then pushing his worries away. He knew that Lelouch would never let anything happen to Nunnally; he would sooner destroy the entire world, and actually succeeded in doing just that, before he would let something happen to Nunnally.

 **. . .**

Cornelia li Britannia wasn't in a good mood.

Not only had the Japan Liberation Front struck in taking Chairman James and many more visitors to the Lake Kawaguchi Convention Center Hotel captive but Cornelia's little sister, Euphie, was among the captives. That was the only reason why she hadn't just ordered the bombing of the entire hotel.

It didn't help that Kusakabe had just contacted her, telling her after he shoved one of the hostages off the roof of the hotel that he would kill a hostage every thirty minutes until their terms were meant.

"Perhaps we can negotiate for Princess Euphemia's release," Cornelia's Knight, Sir Gilbert G.P. Guilford, suggested. He was a tall, dark-haired bespectacled man.

"I will not negotiate with terrorists," Cornelia said firmly, leaning back in her throne as she stared at the hotel. "It would only serve to legitimize what they are doing." She couldn't help but feel worried though.

After all, she had already lost three of her siblings to the terrorists of Area 11 and she didn't want to lose another one. Though she never let it show on her face, keeping a mask of cool indifference that served her well and helped earn her the moniker of the Witch of Britannia and the Goddess of Victory, she had been extremely upset when she learned of Clovis's death.

Not to mention Lelouch and Nunnally. She had idolized Marianne "The Flash" vi Britannia and had loved and cared for Lelouch and Nunnally probably as much as she loved and cared for Euphie. She could still remember the days when they would sit out in the gardens of the Aries Villa, Euphie and Nunnally each trying to outdo the other in terms of impressing Lelouch, since they were both convinced that they would be the one to marry him in the future. Of course, they were only children but it was a rather heartwarming scene.

Cornelia pushed those thoughts away. She couldn't focus on the memories of her lost siblings. She had to focus on the situation at hand. She had to figure out a way to get past that Raikou that had showed up in the tunnel she was going to use to infiltrate the hotel. Evidently, they knew that was what she was going to do and had set up the Raikou to counter her efforts, leading to the loss of four Sutherlands and leaving her frustrated and without a clear-cut plan.

Just then, a messenger came running onto the bridge of Cornelia's G1 mobile base. "Your Highness," he said with a bow. "Um, I have a message for you."

"What is it?" Cornelia asked.

"Zero has been spotted. He's heading in this direction," the messenger reported.

 _Zero!_ Cornelia got to her feet, her eyes cooling at the thought of the man who murdered her brother Clovis. _Just what is he doing here? Is he here to help us or is he here to back the Japan Liberation Front? Nevertheless…_ "Ready my Gloucester. I will confront him personally," the purple-haired Witch of Britannia said firmly.

It took only a few moments before Cornelia was in her Gloucester and standing across from a vehicle that she recognized as one of the cars used by Hi-TV. Zero was standing on top of the car in all his purple, gold, and black glory and he didn't seem fazed by the fact that he had several Gloucesters and Sutherlands surrounding him.

"Zero, so you've shown your face here," Cornelia said icily as she withdrew herself from her Gloucester and stood up. "Are you here to help us or the Japan Liberation Front? Whichever is your decision, it won't matter because I plan on avenging my brother Clovis right here and now." She pulled out her sidearm and pointed it at Zero who still didn't seem fazed.

"Tell me, Princess Cornelia," Zero said calmly. "Which would you choose: your brother Clovis, who is dead, or your sister Euphemia, who is still alive?"

Cornelia started and then narrowed her eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said coolly.

"I have no doubt that you know just as well as I do that she is there, your reaction serves to prove that, and I have it within my power to save her if you will let me pass," Zero said calmly.

Cornelia glared but he was right and she knew it. She was also sure that he knew it as well, the arrogant bastard. "Everyone, let them through," she ordered.

"Your Highness?" Guilford echoed.

"Don't worry, Guilford," Cornelia said, watching as Zero and his group drove onto the bridge and headed toward the hotel. "I have a plan that may succeed in taking out two birds with one stone."

 _Once Euphie's safe, I'll get rid of both the JLF and Zero all at once,_ she thought. "Contact Earl Asplund. I want him to launch the _Lancelot_ and follow these orders," she said firmly before giving out the specific orders for the _Lancelot_ , and its Number pilot, to execute.

 **. . .**

Nina was terrified.

There were so many Elevens in the room and it scared her tremendously. She had been hoping that this would be a peaceful vacation and that she could have time to relax and have fun with her friends and yet she had ended up in a hostage situation with _Elevens._ She shivered, drawing closer to Milly, staring wide-eyed with fear at the Elevens that roamed the storage room into which she and the others had been placed, one of her hands was clasped in Nunnally's. For some reason, the kind sandy-brown haired girl had just taken Nina's hand when they were first thrown into the storage room, they hadn't even been kind enough to let Nunnally stay in her wheelchair, and hadn't let go since.

She felt comforted a bit by that but that didn't lessen the fact that there were so many Elevens in the room.

It had been a few years back when she had first come into contact with the Elevens. It was right before she was about to start her freshman year at Ashford Academy and she had been walking around the Settlement, looking for places to buy some school supplies. Since her parents had been working, they said that, as long as she had her phone with her, she could go by herself.

She had ended up getting lost, having wandered down the wrong street, and ended up on the very edge of the settlement, near the Shinjujku Ghetto. A group of Elevens had found her there and had attacked her, beating her up, and nearly succeeding in raping her when the Knight Police came. The Elevens were arrested and Nina was taken to the nearest hospital but she had been utterly terrified of Elevens ever since then.

One of the Eleven soldiers neared them and Nina whimpered, shifting closer to Milly and tightening her grip on Nunnally's hand. She couldn't help the words that came out of her mouth next, her terror was too strong. "A…An Eleven," she stammered out.

"What the…? What did you call me?! We're Japanese, damnit!" the soldier shouted, turning to glare at Nina who jumped and whimpered, shrinking closer to Milly who curled her arm around Nina's shoulders.

"Yeah, we know," Milly said firmly.

"Then correct her. We ain't Elevens!" the soldier hissed.

"We will, just lay off her," Shirley said.

"Why you…? Don't you dare talk back to me, you damn Britannian," the soldier snarled, whipping the gun in his hand around to point it at Shirley. "You three are coming with me. I'll teach ya not to insult us."

Nina felt tears well up in her eyes and terror gripped her heart as the soldier moved toward them.

"Stop!"

The soldier, Nina, Milly, and Shirley turned toward the new voice while Nunnally tilted her head in the direction of the voice. Standing there was a girl with long pink hair flowing down her back and her lavender-purple eyes fixed coolly on the soldier.

"Who are you to tell me what to do?" the soldier snapped.

"I am Euphemia li Britannia, Third Princess of the Holy Britannian Empire and I order you to take me to your leader," the pink-haired girl said firmly.

Nina stared, wide-eyed at the princess. _She…She just gave herself up…for us?_ She thought, amazed that the beautiful princess would do such a thing, and for someone who wasn't even of noble birth.

Euphemia then turned to Nina and smiled gently at her. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Unable to form a response, Nina gave a small nod before watching as Euphemia was escorted out of the room by the soldiers.

"I hope she'll be all right," Nina whispered.

"I'm sure she will be," Nunnally assured her, squeezing her hand.

 **. . .**

Lelouch gazed coolly at Kusakabe who was resting on his couch, his katana resting in front of him and his gaze fixed on Lelouch. "Well, if we're going to be working together, you will need to remove that mask. I will not work with someone without knowing who they are," Kusakabe said.

"I'm afraid that is out of the question," Lelouch said calmly, coolly. He had been escorted to see Kusakabe almost as soon as they had arrived in the parking structure next to the hotel. He had Geassed the JLF members who had met them so that the rest of the Black Knights could get into the hotel, start planting the charges, and rescuing the hostages while he was talking with Kusakabe.

"If you're going to join us…" Kusakabe began.

"Lieutenant-Colonel, I would like to ask you something," Lelouch interrupted.

"And what would that be?"

"What exactly do you hope to accomplish by this action?"

Kusakabe straightened up. "Gain attention," he said firmly. "I want this country and the world to know that the Japanese aren't dead yet."

"How stale," Lelouch drawled. "You people are obsolete. There's no saving you."

His words were met with angry reactions from the JLF members that were surrounding him but Kusakabe held up a hand to prevent them from acting. He then fixed a cool gaze on Lelouch and said, "Explain."

"It's exactly as I said," Lelouch said calmly. "The very memory of Japan is gone. What you are trying to revive is nothing more than a shell of Japan's true glory. The nation that you are working so hard to bring back has been warped and scarred beyond recognition, filled with crime, prejudice, hatred. It will never be the glorious nation that it once was; it will only ever be a shell of its former self."

Kusakabe narrowed his eyes, a scowl twisting his lips. "And just what do you hope on doing?" he scowled.

Lelouch's lips twisted into a demonic smirk. "The glorious nation that is Japan may be long gone but its people are still alive and well. I plan on liberating them from Britannia's control and allow them the chance to choose their own future without being oppressed by Britannia's self-imposed superiority. I do not plan on reviving a shell that is already dead but rather move toward a better future for all."

Kusakabe huffed, clearly not believing that it was possible. Lelouch could see the disbelief on his face. He then grabbed the hilt of his katana. "I believe our discussion is over. Since it's clear you won't be joining us, you will die," he said and, katana raised to strike, jumped up from the couch.

"That is where you're wrong," Lelouch said coolly, the part of his mask retracting to reveal his left eye and he activated his Geass, commanding everyone in the room to die.

Once he was sure everyone in the room was dead and his eye was hidden from sight again, he turned around and left the room. He was just in time to see the two solders with the familiar pink-haired form of Euphemia standing, with her head held proudly, in between them.

"What has happened here?" one of the soldiers demanded.

"The Lieutenant-Colonel and his men committed suicide once they realized the pointlessness of this operation," Lelouch said calmly and then observed Euphemia as the soldiers let her go, realizing that, with their leader dead, they didn't know what to do. They both, apparently, decided that their lives were more important and quickly left.

Lelouch and Euphemia were alone in the hallway. Lelouch studied the pink-haired girl, a small wry smile on his face. "Princess Euphemia, you were willing to sacrifice yourself for the commoners. You haven't changed," he mused.

"You're Zero," Euphemia said. "Why did you kill my brother Clovis?"

"Because he issued the orders that caused many innocent civilians to die simply because he wanted to hide a secret that he believes would have gotten him disinherited," Lelouch said calmly.

Euphemia held her head high, her lavender gaze fixed on his helmet. "What now? Are you going to kill me too?" she asked.

Lelouch would never harm Euphemia. Of all of his half-siblings, Euphemia and Cornelia were probably the only ones that Lelouch truly cared about. He supposed that he respected Schneizel as they did get along quite well before Empress Marianne was assassinated. But both Cornelia and Schneizel had a role in his mother's death and that was why Lelouch wasn't sure what to feel about them, other than the need to question them and get answers. Euphemia, on the other hand, was innocent; Lelouch doubted she had anything to do with what happened to his mother. She was too young at the time.

"You are innocent, Princess Euphemia," Lelouch said calmly. "And harming the innocent is not something that I am prepared to do."

Euphemia's lips pressed together but, before she could say anything, Kallen, in her uniform with her visored helmet over her head, jogged toward them. "Everything's ready, Zero, and the hostages have been secured," she said.

"Good," Lelouch said, relieved that his sister and his friends on the student council were all right. "Take the princess with you and evacuate. We will be leaving now."

"Yes, sir," Kallen said with a salute.

"You're letting us go?" Euphemia asked.

"As I already said, princess, harming the innocent is not something I'm going to do," Lelouch assured her. "Go."

Kallen took Euphemia's arm and began half-guiding, half-dragging her toward the elevators while Lelouch followed at a slower pace, contacting his other Black Knights to assure that everything was ready for their big reveal and their departure.

 **. . .**

Suzaku, within the _Lancelot_ , barely managed to get clear of the explosion that brought the entire convention center hotel down. He had taken out the foundation that would cause the hotel to collapse, just as he had been ordered to do, but already knew of what happened within, for the most part. He flew upward as the smoke cleared and the yacht came into view with Zero standing on its brow.

"My dear Britannians, have no fear," Zero declared, gesturing widely toward the group of orange life boats that were slowly making their way to the shore. Suzaku immediately examined them and was relieved to see that Nunnally and Euphemia, along with the other members of the Student Council were all right. He had known that would be the case when things pretty much went as they had the first time around but he was still relieved to have a visual confirmation that they were all right.

"All the hostages from the hotel are safe and sound. I, Zero, return them to you unharmed," Zero added with another dramatic gesture of his hand.

 _He definitely has a flair for the dramatics,_ Suzaku thought, watching as more lights appeared to reveal the large group of masked and suited people standing behind Zero. He noted that the group seemed slightly larger than it was the first time around.

"People!" Zero declared. "Fear us, or rally behind us as you see fit. We are the Black Knights! We of the Black Knights stand with those who have no weapons to wield; regardless of whether they be Japanese or Britannians. The Japan Liberation Front cowardly took innocent Britannian civilians hostage, and then mercilessly executed them. It was a wanton and meaningless act, therefore they have been punished, just as Viceroy Clovis la Britannia was punished for ordering the slaughter of countless unarmed Japanese."

"We could not stand by and allow such cruelty to be carried out, and so we made him pay for his actions. I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field, but neither will I tolerate a one-sided massacre of the weak by the strong. The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to _be_ killed."

Zero held out his arms as he went on. "Wherever oppressors have abused their power by attacking those who are powerless, we shall appear again. No matter how mighty, or how formidable our foe may be! Those of you with power, fear us! Those of you without it, rally behind us! We, the Black Knights, shall be the ones who stand in judgment of this world!"

 **. . .**

Bree giggled as she watched the scene that was taking place at Lake Kawaguchi, her gaze fixed on the masked form of Zero, whom she knew, from her many visions, was really Lelouch vi Britannia. She also knew that it was because of this secret, as well as the fact that Lelouch had a Geass, that was the reason for the betrayal. She now just had to find a way of informing the exiled prince of his best friend's betrayal.

She laughed to herself. "Ah, this is gonna be great, especially 'cause of my power's secondary ability. I can't believe it took it going out of control for me to access this ability," she murmured. "But then it is called Absolute Future and it's not an informational one, not entirely anyway." She started humming as she thought about just how to reveal the truth to the exiled prince and drive a wedge between him and his best friend.

She knew that if she used her secondary ability, there was no telling what would be revealed or just how much but that was fine. She was sure that if the exiled prince knew of his friend's betrayal then that would be the end of their friendship. No one could be betrayed as badly as Lelouch vi Britannia was and still be friends with the betrayer after all.

"But how will I do this? Hmm."

"My Lady, might I make a suggestion?" Bruno said.

"Of course, Bruno," Bree said brightly. "Your opinion is always welcomed!"

"I suggest, my Lady, that you let me handle this matter. I will bring you both of them," Bruno said firmly.

"Oh would you? That would be so awesome," Bree said gleefully.

Bruno inclined his head. "I will get on this matter right away," he said firmly and got to his feet before leaving the hotel.

Bree leaned back on the couch, her permanently-activated Geass causing more images from the various timelines to course through her mind but she ignored them. The painkillers she had taken were still in effect and so she didn't feel any pain in her head. She did smile whenever she saw a specific vision involving her and the pilot of the _Lancelot_.

She giggled. "Soon, you'll be all mine, Suzaku Kururugi," she murmured.

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Blaze: yes, I have brought in a yandere OC character and, no, I am _not_ sorry**

 **Lelouch: well, I suppose it could be worse**

 **Suzaku: (stares warily at the girl Bree) please tell me something bad _won't_ happen 'cause of her**

 **Blaze: (smirks mysteriously) I will say this. Bree is the main antagonist for the first three chapters of the non-canon five chapter arc that will begin after the Refrain episode that is coming up next**

 **Lelouch: anything else you wanna tell us?**

 **Blaze: no. The notes I have for those three chapters that will start the chapter after the next one will be posted during that chapter. All I can say is what happens in those chapters, as well as a certain character that is introduced in the fourth chapter of the five part non-canon arc, will have very _drastic_ and _tragic_ consequences on the timeline.**

 **Suzaku: drastic and tragic how?**

 **Blaze: I shall say nothing more on the subject**

 **Charles: hello**

 **Lelouch: (pulls out electric bazooka) hello, bastard, say 'ello to my little friend**

 **Charles: goodbye (takes off running)**

 **Lelouch: (chases after Charles)**

 **Suzaku: (sighs and shakes head) Want me to end the chapter, Blaze?**

 **Blaze: sure, go ahead (walks off)**

 **Suzaku: even if it didn't quite follow the episode exactly (more because Blaze just didn't include all the details included in the episode), she hopes that you enjoy this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated and thank you for reading.**


	8. Stage 08: Promise

**It's been over a month. I'm so sorry but I have a good excuse.**

 **Bakura: once again, no you do noticing**

 **Noticing?**

 **Bakura: what the...? I meant not! How the hell...?!**

 **Ahahahaha. You've become the victim of autocorrect!**

 **Bakura: (growls) just get on with your list of excuses.**

 **Okay, fine. I really do only have excuses. I got into a new anime ( _Ao no Exorcist_ ), finally finished watching the original _Fullmetal Alchemist_ and started in _Brotherhood,_ came up with a brand-new original story idea that I just had to start writing, dealt with writer's block, and worked on _Rise of the Black King._**

 **Bakura: see? Excuses**

 **Oh shut up. Anyway, thank you to _Blacksword Zero, Messiah, patrickthenobleman, matronium, Miraculous Messiah, Shadow-Shinobi666, RicartElit, Demons Anarchy of Pride,_ and _Shimmering-Sky_ for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are great.**

 **Here is chapter 8 and, even though it's a bit short, I hope that you like it. Up next is the five-chapter non-canon arc I've been talking about. I won't say much about it here (since I've already ranted about it at the end of this chapter). Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 _When he thought of promises, he recalled the many promises he had made in his life._

 _First, there was the promise he'd made to himself. He had promised himself to rise through the ranks to become the Knight of One and claim Area 11 as his own area in order to protect it, all to atone for staining his hands with the blood of his own father._

 _Secondly, he'd promised, to himself, to always love Euphemia, even if such a relationship would be frowned upon by the vast majority of society. He still promised this, promised that there would never be another woman in the entire world that he would love as much as he loved Euphemia._

 _Thirdly, he had promised himself that he would avenge Euphemia's murder. That he would hunt down and killed Zero for killing his beloved. That he would do whatever he must to get his vengeance on Zero, even if it meant killing his best friend who was like a brother to him. Perhaps that had been the insanity that had set in when Euphemia died talking but that was what drove him the entire time he was the Knight of Seven._

 _Finally, when he and Lelouch had been planning the Zero Requiem, he had promised to take care of and protect Nunnally under the guise of Zero. He had done so because Nunnally was innocent and deserved to live in the peaceful life that the final act of the Zero Requiem had bought the world. Yes, he knew that the peace wouldn't last but he promised that he would protect Nunnally while the world started rebuilding itself and from any threats that arose afterward._

 _Looking back, he mused that he had broken all but one of his promises._

 _He never became the Knight of One. Instead, he had achieve a rank higher than the Knight of One, a rank that was only created when Lelouch took the throne. The Knight of Zero._

 _He never did succeed in avenging Euphemia's murder by killing Zero. Yes, he had successfully killed Lelouch—and regretted it the entire time he was doing it—but he hadn't killed Zero; he had_ become _Zero and had stopped his quest for revenge once he found out the truth behind his beloved's murder._

 _And, finally, he had failed to protect Nunnally as well as everyone else that he had left that he actually cared about. Even now, with him two years into the past, at a time when Nunnally was still alive and well, her death in the future still haunted him and his broken promise hung over his head in a shadow of regret. He was reminded of it every time he looked into Nunnally's peacefully smiling face or Zero's expressionless mask._

 _His broken promises hung over his head and yet it was only that last one that he truly desired to ensure never happened. He knew he would never become the Knight of One now that he had decided to join Zero. He would never need to avenge Euphemia because he was going to do whatever he must to ensure that Euphemia survived._

 _But, no matter what, he would ensure that Nunnally's death and the death of everyone else he actually cared about never happened._

 _And this was a promise that he was going to keep, no matter what._

 _ **. . .**_

 **Stage 08**

 **Promise**

"The Black Knights!"

Suzaku jerked out of his doze and blinked at Kallen who was sleepily blinking at the rest of the class as they laughed at her. He smiled to himself, resting his chin on the palm of his hand as he saw Kallen, blushing in embarrassment, sit down. It wasn't that big of a surprise that she was exhausted; just like in the old timeline, with the events of Lake Kawaguchi behind them, the Black Knights were certainly making their mark in Area 11.

The drug raids apparently lasted far into the night and made Suzaku wonder if Kallen, or anyone of the Black Knights, had gotten any rest the night before. Judging by exhausted expression on Kallen's face or the fact that Lelouch was fast asleep in the middle of class, he suspected they hadn't gotten much.

He couldn't help but marvel at how Lelouch was able to fall asleep in the middle of class without anyone noticing.

"You know, if ya need some advice on sleeping in class, you should ask Lelouch. He's practically mastered it," Rivalz said to Kallen, gesturing to the sleeping exiled prince.

"I don't know why he's so exhausted though," Shirley said with a worried frown.

"Probably had a late night or something. Maybe he's got himself a girlfriend or something," Rivalz suggested.

"That's...there's no way...I'm sure that's not it," Shirley said quickly.

Suzaku chuckled and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, biting his lip to stifle the yawn hat threatened to escape. He hadn't gotten much sleep either but that was primarily because Lloyd had him running so many tests on the _Lancelot_ that he ended up having to do his homework during the night. He was also keeping up to date on the Black Knight's movement and giving any information he felt Lelouch needed to know to him.

He was also keeping updated on the P.U.A.B. since they had made their presence known once again. This time, they were making their presence known in Area 8, having destroyed a hospital and bombing the Viceroy's palace, though the viceroy wasn't inside it at the time. He gritted his teeth at the People United Against Britannia's ruthlessness and pushed those thoughts out of his head.

Another reason why he was rather tired was due to nightmares. It wasn't as if this was the first time that he's ever had nightmares; he's been dealing with them since he was sent back in time. He knew that it was only because he was too focused on what was going on around him and trying to make the changes necessary to create a better future that he wasn't being weighed down by the traumas he had suffered in the old timeline.

Perhaps that was why he tried so hard to keep himself busy and try not to make the same mistakes he'd made in the old timeline and trying even harder to ensure that Lelouch didn't make the same mistakes he made in the old timeline. And that was, by far, the hardest of his tasks.

"You okay, Suzaku?" Shirley asked, breaking Suzaku out of his thoughts.

He blinked at her, trying to shove the memory of Shirley laying in a pool of her own blood out of his mind, and nodded. "Yeah, just didn't get much sleep last night," he admitted and was unable to stop the yawn that escaped his lips. He rubbed his eyes as Shirley, still eyeing him with concern, returned to her seat as the next class began.

 **. . .**

Later that day, Suzaku, along with almost the entire Student Council, were dressed up in cat costumes and were attempting to get a resentful and vainly resisting Lelouch into one as well. Already, Lelouch had a set of cat ears on his head and whiskers were being painted on his cheeks, even as he continued to struggle. Suzaku had to grin at his best friend; this was one of the best memories he had of his time on the Student Council in the old timeline and he was glad that it was happening the same way it had last time.

He was seriously contemplating why he hadn't taken pictures then and if he should now and then mused that Milly might have rubbed off on him a little bit.

"Damn it, Milly, let me go," Lelouch exclaimed.

"Oh don't be such a party pooper, Lulu," Milly said brightly.

Lelouch scowled.

Suzaku snickered.

Lelouch's glare transferred to him but Suzaku just smiled at him, not even bothering on hiding his amusement. "Oh it's not that bad, Lelouch," he said with a grin.

The glare just intensified.

Milly moved away from Lelouch and slipped on the large paws that completed her outfit. "This is gonna be fun, Lelouch. You should just enjoy it," she said.

Lelouch huffed.

The door opened at that moment and Kallen made her way into the room, blue eyes taking in the scene in confusion.

Milly beamed at her. "Good meow-ning," she greeted, waving at Kallen while Shirley and Rivalz continued to fight with an irritated Lelouch.

"Good morning, I guess. What's all this?" Kallen asked.

"What do you mean? Didn't we tell you?" Rivalz asked as he held Lelouch down. It really wasn't that hard since Lelouch had virtually no stamina or muscle strength whatsoever. "It's our welcome party for Arthur."

Kallen blinked. "Sounds like fun," she said uncertainly.

"Oh, I left some stuff for you too, over here," Shirley said, finally letting go of Lelouch and gesturing toward the rack of cat costumes. "Take your pick."

"She doesn't need one," Lelouch said, smiling at Kallen who glared at him. "She's already wearing a mask, aren't you?"

"You're a real riot, you know that? You should be on television," she said.

"Speaking of that, I can't believe we keep getting asked about it," Shirley complained and Suzaku knew she was referring to the Lake Kawaguchi incident. "The whole thing's a huge pain in the butt. We've been hounded with questions day and night. Even in the bath!"

"We haven't been able to leave the school grounds in a week," Milly huffed.

"I still don't see why we can't leave either," Rivalz said.

"That's the price of friendship," Milly said. "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, 'it matters not that we were born apart. Upon this day, we die as one.'"

"Is that your idea of a love quote?"

"If I go down, then we all do."

Suzaku couldn't help but smile at the friendship that existed between the members of the student council. Like last time, he felt his eyes well up with tears but, this time, it wasn't because of the Kawaguchi incident. This time, it was because he was recalling the last time he had seen every single person in this room alive.

Shirley, when they had their talk about forgiveness right before she had been killed by Rolo.

Lelouch, right as Suzaku ran his blade through his best friend's chest and accepted the mantle of Zero.

Everyone else being gunned down by the members of the P.U.A.B. simply because they had wanted to come show their support for the new Empress during Nunnally's coronation.

And yet, here they were, all alive and well, acting like the carefree teenagers that they were.

"That's a little dark. What do you think, Suza…huh?" Rivalz had noticed that Suzaku was trying, and failing, to stop the tears.

Wiping the tears from his eyes, Suzaku decided simply to go with what he said the first time around. "I'm just so glad, you know, that we could all be together like this," he said. _And that you are all here, alive and well,_ he thought.

With a yelp, he found himself on the ground when Rivalz, taking him by surprise, caught him in a tackle hug. Everyone, even Nina who had been pretty quiet throughout the entire affair, started laughing.

Suzaku pushed Rivalz off him, chuckling as he sat up and watched the get together, wincing when Arthur, who had padded toward him, promptly bit into one of his fingers. "Ow!"

"That's what you get, traitor," Lelouch said with a grin as he snickered.

"Haha," Suzaku said, rolling his eyes as he glared back at his best friend who just smirked at him.

 **. . .**

Later that day, Kallen was in her room, going over her homework as well as thinking about what the Black Knights' next move was going to be, when a knock sounded on her door. "Come in," Kallen called.

The door opened and Kallen's eyes narrowed when she saw her biological mother, who was also her maid, step into the room. She really couldn't help but pity her since her mother was only staying in the house and being a maid to her bitch of a stepmother because she was clinging to her lost love. Kallen just couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that her mother just couldn't let go of her father and would allow herself to continue being verbally abused because of that. It hurt and she had been hoping, all this time, that her mother would finally just realize that it was pointless and leave. At least, if she left, she would be better off.

"Mistress, one of your friends is here," her mother said softly.

"Who?" Kallen wondered allowed but followed her mother/maid out of her room and down the stairs where, to her surprise, Milly was standing. "Milly, what are you doing here?"

"Just came to drop off something," Milly said.

"Would you like me to escort your friend to the parlor or…?" her maid/mother began.

"We'll be in my room," Kallen said.

Just then, her stepmother, whom she hated with a passion, appeared, startling her maid and causing her to back up. She ran into a table and a vase that was resting on it fell to the ground to shatter. "Oh no," she whispered.

"You foolish woman! Can't you do anything right?" Mrs. Stadtfeld, Kallen refused to refer to that bitch as her mother, snapped angrily.

Kallen, ignoring what was happening, led Milly to her room.

"Quite the family drama you have there," Milly commented as they took a seat around the table.

Kallen huffed. "So what brings you here, Milly?" she asked.

"This," Milly said, placing a folder on the table. "My grandpa told me to give this to you. It's your middle school transcripts."

Kallen sighed and picked the folder up. "So everyone knows I'm half-Japanese," she said. "That woman out there is just my step mom and the maid is my actual mother who ended up in her predicament because she was ditched by my father who then married that bitch. And yet she still remains here, clinging to the man who left her even though she virtually has no skills whatsoever."

"Do you hate her?" Milly asked curiously.

"No, I just feel depressed for her," Kallen admitted.

Milly titled her head to the side. "Well, if you want to talk about it then I'll be willing to listen. Some things in life we can bear on our own, but when you add them all up, they eventually break you, you know," she said. "I won't tell anyone either."

"Thank you," Kallen said, smiling a little. Even if she was Britannian, Milly was definitely becoming something of a good friend to Kallen and she actually felt as if a slight burden had been lifted from her shoulders upon telling someone about her current family problems.

She was unaware that, in another room, her mother was shakily fishing out a medicine gun and a vial filled with a yellow-liquid.

 **. . .**

At the clubhouse, Lelouch was teasing Suzaku on crying about the girls being safe. He couldn't help it because he was Suzaku's best friend and best friend's teased each other. Besides, it was amusing. "That's just so embarrassing," he said with a teasing smirk as he flipped through the pages of the magazine he was reading.

"Oh shut up, Lelouch. You were in tears when you saw Nunnally," Suzaku retorted as he worked with organizing the supplies from the party and then winced when Arthur bit into his finger again. "Ow!"

"Touché," Lelouch said with an amused smile and added, "Well, good thing the Black Knights were there to save 'em."

"I will admit that they did get the hostages out of there alive and I'm grateful to them for that," Suzaku said.

"But…?" Lelouch glanced at him with a raised eyebrow, knowing that it was coming.

Suzaku shrugged. "If they are truly knights for justice, as they claim to be, then they will continue to defend and protect the innocent. I'll reserve my judgment until I see whether they will adhere to Zero's proclamation or not."

Lelouch studied his old friend curiously. Then again, with Suzaku agreeing to work as a double agent for him, Lelouch figured it was because he understood just how Britannia was and what needed to be done to change things. Though he did find himself thinking on Suzaku's words; it seemed as though Suzaku doubted that Zero and the Black Knights would actually adhere to being knights for justice. Perhaps it was just the tone behind his words but…

"Well, to each their own," Lelouch replied.

At that moment, Shirley walked in, looking nervous.

Suzaku smirked and got to his feet. "Well, I'd better head back to the base," he said and winked at Shirley as he left, which left Lelouch confused.

Shirley hesitated and then moved over to stand in front of him. "Lulu?" she began.

"Hmm?"

"Um, well, I was just…do you…um…I kinda was wondering…" Shirley stammered out, looking incredibly uncomfortable. "Wouldyouliketogooutwithme?!"

Lelouch blinked, unable to make sense of what she had just said since she said it too fast. "I didn't quite catch that, Shirley," he said.

Shirley's cheeks went red. "Um, never mind," she blurted out and bolted, leaving a very confused exiled prince in her wake.

 **. . .**

The following day, Kallen was on the phone with Ohgi as she walked around the mall. She made sure to keep away from others so that they wouldn't hear what she was saying, though the mall didn't seem to be very busy at the moment anyway.

Ohgi was currently explaining that their next mission was an assault on the transportation of the drug known as Refrain, which apparently allowed the user to experience illusions of the past.

"Must be all the rage here in Japan," she said.

" _Yeah, its use is actually targeted at the Japanese,_ " Ohgi said.

Kallen frowned at that. "Sounds like an attempt on Britannia's part to control the Japanese," she said. "Keep them happy with what happened before the invasion so that they won't rise up against them."

" _But it's addicting and can be fatal if overused_ ," Ohgi noted.

"Yeah," Kallen said.

" _But Zero thinks that if we do this then more will follow our lead and that can only help us_ ," Ohgi said.

"This is really happening, isn't it?" Kallen said softly. "Just a week ago, we were just…and now look at what we're becoming."

" _Knights for justice, just as Zero said_ ," Ohgi agreed. " _I'd better let you go. I'll see you later, Kallen._ "

"Yeah, see ya," Kallen said and hung up, slipping the phone into her pocket. She rounded the corner and was just in time to see a vendor by a hot dog stand getting beating on by a group of Britannians.

She scowled when she saw that no one was bothering on helping him. Instead, they just kept on walking as if this was something that always happened, or because they just didn't care. Kallen was willing to bet it was the latter. She gritted her teeth, hearing the Britannians insulting the vendor and clenched her hand into a fist before starting forward, only to stop at a hand on her shoulder.

"They outnumber you," Lelouch's voice said.

Kallen whirled around to find the black-haired Britannian standing at her side, one hand in the pocket of his jacket while his amethyst gaze was fixed on the incident. "So does this mean that we do nothing?" she demanded.

"If you intervened, it would just make it worse for him. There's a good chance he'll still get attacked tomorrow and there would be nothing you could do about it," said Lelouch.

Kallen scowled but, before she could say anything, the Britannians had spotted them and started forward.

"So what do ya think about this?" the lead Britannian said.

Lelouch didn't answer, instead, he locked eyes with the leader and said, "You're tired of beating on that Number and will leave him alone."

"Yeah, he ain't worth our time. C'mon, you guys," the leader said and walked off with his companions behind him.

Kallen didn't bother on waiting for them to leave nor did she question why they'd listened to Lelouch as quickly as they had. Instead, she was more concerned with the hot dog vendor so she moved to help him get to his feet. "Are you okay?" she asked.

The vendor glanced at her and, taking note of her uniform as well as Lelouch who had come to Kallen's side. "Oh, students, would you and your boyfriend like anything to eat? I'll get you whatever you want," he said, not answering her question.

Kallen frowned, noting the distinct lack of hatred or anger in the vendor's voice. _Why isn't he upset by this, even a little bit?_ She thought.

Lelouch didn't notice and simply bought two ice cream cones and the two walked away, Kallen glancing back at the vendor with a small frown on her face. She turned to Lelouch as they reached the park and took the cone from him.

"Thanks," she said. Even for a Britannian, Lelouch wasn't exactly a bad guy.

"You're welcome," Lelouch replied, sitting down on a bench and Kallen sat down next to him.

"I just wish we could've helped that hot dog vendor," Kallen murmured a few minutes later as she finished her ice cream and wiped her hands, noting that Lelouch had already finished his.

"As I said before, it would have just made matters worse for him," Lelouch said calmly. He paused and added thoughtfully. "In some ways, Area 11 is better off now than the old Japan ever was. Being made a colony of the empire has stabilized its military and economic position in the world. Elevens can even obtain full citizenship through the legal process. It's easy to become an Honorary Britannian, it's just a question of pride, really. Though, I can certainly understand why they'd resist."

Kallen glanced at him. "And? Knowing all that, what does Lelouch Lamperouge think about it all? What do you want to do?"

"Nothing."

Kallen narrowed her eyes, lips twisting slightly in a scowl. "You know," she began, "you've got a lot of brains but you don't seem to be doing much with them. It's all Shirley talks about; saying how intelligent you are but how you barely ever apply yourself."

Lelouch shrugged. "That's why I don't do anything," he said. "That Eleven we saw back there could tell you, he can lead a better life as long as he bows his head to Britannia."

Thinking about her mother and how she was bowing her head to Britannia, Kallen scowled. She may not be happy with her mother and pitied her but she couldn't believe that her mother was leading a better life while bowing her head to Britannia. And she couldn't believe that Lelouch was actually saying such a thing.

She slapped Lelouch hard across the face and stood up, glaring at him. "You must think you're pretty cool, huh? Just playing the critic and judging the world from the sidelines? Guess I was a fool to expect anything more from you. You know, I really thought you were a better man than this." She stalked off, missing the small smile that crossed Lelouch's face.

 **. . .**

At a bar, Jeremiah and Villetta were having drinks while discussing what had happened that had caused the whole 'orange' fiasco in which the masked man Zero made his first appearance. Jeremiah was incredibly frustrated because he couldn't remember what happened during that particular incident.

"I swear I have no idea what happened," he said, nursing his drink. "It like a giant blank spot in my memory. I wouldn't have let Kururugi go and yet I did and I have no idea why."

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Villetta said, a thoughtful look on her face. "The same thing happened to me while I was in the Shinjuku Ghetto and it was right before I had my knightmare stolen. I don't remember ever giving it away and yet that's what happened. I did remember seeing someone there though."

"Do you think that person was responsible for your memory loss?" Jeremiah asked curiously.

"I think it's possible. I just…I don't seem to remember what he looked like. He was a student, that much I'm certain of, but I can't recall much else," Villetta asked, brow furrowing in thought as she tried to recall the student she had seen. "I think we should be able to find him though. He looked about seventeen, I think."

"Seventeen? A high school student then but that doesn't really narrow the search," Jeremiah admitted, sipping at his drink and then gazing into the liquid. Even if he didn't truly believe in the ideology of the purist faction, due to the fact that the woman he had sworn his loyalty to originally had been a commoner herself, he did feel bad about being responsible for the fact that the purists had been affected by what he had done. He also wanted the chance to redeem himself. He just didn't know how.

"I might recognize the student if I see him again," Villetta said thoughtfully. "But I don't think we'd be able to go to all the schools in the settlement to find one teenager."

Jeremiah nodded in agreement, brow furrowing in frustration. _I wish Villetta could remember who that student was. If anything, he might know something about what caused this whole 'orange' fiasco to begin with,_ he thought.

 **. . .**

That night, Kallen found herself resting in the Glasgow as the Black Knights waited for Zero to give the signal. She glanced at her companions, noting that they were all prepared to fight. Her Glasgow was the only Knightmare they had left, since the Yamato Alliance had been forced to abandon theirs at Saitama in order to get out of there alive, but she was confident that she could get the job done.

Though she did wonder if they were even doing the right thing. She frowned to herself. _Zero hasn't led us wrong yet and this drug really is a danger,_ she told herself since it was. If people kept using it, they could overdose and die. Not only that but it was illegal, even by Britannian law, but it was still being distributed. In a way, they were helping Britannia but she pushed that thought out of her mind.

"Look, there's the signal," Tamaki called, pointing to where a blinking light could be seen from the warehouse.

"Just how does that guy do that?" Itsuki said bewildered.

"Who cares? Time for some action," Hikari cheered as the Black Knights moved forward. With the help of Masaki, Satoru, Sugiyama, and Inoue, she proceeded to shoot down the door. As soon as they did so, they were quick to jump to the side as they were welcomed by a hail of gunfire.

Thrusting the controls forward, Kallen quickly guided the Glasgow into the compound, shielding her companions and whooping as she fired at the drug dealers.

After taking out the dealers that were in her way, and leaving the rest of the Black Knights to take out any stragglers, she busted through another door. Her eyes widened when she saw the number of Japanese wandering around the room, looking as though they were in a trance.

"I got in. I'm going to be studying abroad," the hot dog vendor from earlier stated.

Kallen felt sad as she spotted this. To think all of these people were so desperate to remember happier times that they would resort to Refrain. She moved forward only to spot when she spotted a familiar woman move in front of her, calling out for…Naoto?

"Don't run so fast, Naoto," the woman that Kallen, to her shock, recognized as her mother said.

 _Oh, mother, really? You've really fallen this far?_ She thought, watching as her mother fell and then swiftly catching her with one of the Glasgow's hands. Just then, a Slash Harken shot forward and crashed into her Knightmare's other arm, severing the joint and causing it to fall off.

Whirling around, with her mother still in her remaining hand, Kallen's eyes widened as she spotted a member of the Knightpolice flying rapidly toward her. Swearing, she quickly skated away, unable to fire back due to her only remaining arm holding her mother. She wanted to just put her mother down but she found that she couldn't.

"Damn it! Why can't I put you down?!" she exclaimed, biting her lip as she sped away from the knightpolice, since she didn't have any other choice. She couldn't understand why she couldn't put her mother down. She didn't care about her mother, who would not let go of the man who left her all those years ago and continued to serve as a servant because of her desire to cling to a love who no longer loved her.

Kallen gritted her teeth as she weaved to avoid the second Knightpolice's rifle, staring down at her mother but that brief distraction cost her. She cried out when a Slash Harken took out her leg and sent her flying forward, though she used her Knightmare's body subconsciously to shield her mother. Her mother landed on the ground but Kallen remained crouched over her as the Knightpolice continuously fired at her.

"Why are you still here, you idiot?! Run!" Kallen screamed.

"I'm here for you, Kallen. I'm here as I always have been," her mother whispered, standing up but not moving from the spot and looking up at the Glasgow as if she knew that Kallen was in there.

Kallen was staring in shock and tears appeared in her eyes as it finally clicked. "That's why…that's why you stayed in the house. It wasn't for dad. You…You stayed for me?" Tears fell down her face. "You fool!" _Or maybe I'm the one that's the fool._

She didn't have time to worry about her mother anymore though as the Knightpolice were about to stab her. She didn't have much time so she quickly activated her grappling hooks and sank them into the Knightpolice before dragging it into its companion, throwing both of them into a shelf. They did not get back up.

The other Black Knights had quickly hurried into the room, rushing forward to secure the Japanese that were still wandering around. Kallen was still lost in thought, her mind on her mother and how much her mother truly loved and cared for her.

 _And yet I treated her so badly. I'm sorry,_ she thought sadly.

The Black Knights were quick to get out of there by the time the rest of the Knightpolice arrived, leaving them and Cornelia's forces to do the cleanup work. Unfortunately for the Japanese, they were all arrested since Refrain was illegal. Kallen knew that meant that her mother was going to be arrested but she hoped that she would, at least, get treated first.

 **. . .**

The following day, Kallen learned that her mother had been taken to the hospital and she was grateful, though she did learn of the verdict that was given to all those who had been arrested after the raid. She left her step-mother's home and immediately had her driver take her to the hospital, deciding she wanted to inform her mother of the news herself.

Entering her mother's hospital room, she found that she was sitting up but seemed unresponsive. Sitting down, Kallen turned to the doctor who had entered the room with her. "What's wrong with her?" she asked.

"It's a side effect of Refrain," the doctor explained. "She won't be able to move or talk much for a while but it will fade eventually."

Kallen nodded and turned to her mother, stretching out a hand and resting it on top of her mother's. "Mother, your sentence…you got twenty years," she said softly and then determination entered her voice as she added firmly, "But you wait! I'm working to change things when you get out. I swear to you! I'll make a world where you and I can live a normal life again, so, please, mother…" She trailed off, unable to continue and feeling tears well up in her eyes again.

Then she felt her hand being squeezed. Turning, she saw that her mother had been responsible for that and then, very quietly, she heard her mother speak, "Hang in there…Hang in there, Kallen. My little girl."

The tears that had been welling in her eyes started to fall and she wiped them away with her free hand. "Don't you worry," she whispered. "I will. I promise you."

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Blaze: gah! Why was this chapter so hard to rewrite?!**

 **Suzaku: I thought it was okay**

 **Lelouch: seemed all right to me**

 **Blaze: and yet it took me over a month to rewrite it!**

 **Bakura: (walks into computer room and hands Blaze a stolen chocolate bar)**

 **Blaze: CHOCOLATE! (Calms down, snatches chocolate bar, and starts eating it)**

 **Bakura: always give her chocolate if she sounds frustrated or she'll end up destroying her computer room again**

 **Suzaku: duly noted**

 **Bakura: well, you foolish mortals, you get to give the final notes for this chapter (strides off to go steal the _Avalon_ )**

 **Schneizel: stay away from the _Avalon_ (swiftly strides after Bakura)**

 **Suzaku: well, the first note Blaze has is that the next five chapters are the five chapter non-canon arc that she mentioned...sometime ago. I don't remember when exactly**

 **Lelouch: and the OC that was introduced in the last chapter is integral to the first three chapters of the five chapter arc**

 **Suzaku: another important OC will be introduced in the fourth chapter**

 **Lelouch: two canon characters who don't make an appearance until R2 will appear in the fifth chapter**

 **Suzaku: she would also like to say this as a reminder: the coming non-canon arc will have drastic and, in some ways, _tragic_ consequences on the rest of the storyline. It is not going to be all chocolate and roses...her words, not mine...and while it may seem like a deus ex machina, it is not. It's the catalyst that will lead to a lot of problems further down the line, especially in her version of R2**

 **Blaze: (finishes her chocolate) sorry about the lengthy note but I had to get this out there since I don't want people to think that the coming chapters are a deus ex machina because they aren't, even if they may seem like it. Anyway, excuse the rant and I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. I will try to have the next chapter up before August starts. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**


	9. Stage 09: Kidnapped

**Well, I was hoping to make this chapter better and, yet, there really aren't many, if any, changes to this chapter when compared to the rough draft. Ah well.**

 **Yeah, I know I said that I would try to update before August began (keyword there is _try_ by the way) and I would have if I hadn't lost Internet on the day I was going to update. So I'm updating now.**

 **Bakura: get on with it, moron**

 **Oh shut up, Bakura, and go steal something**

 **Bakura: (grins and takes off)**

 **Anyway, thank you to _yannieXD, TokusatsuLuv, Mr. Indigo, ewerntondragon, Shadow-Shinobi666, Determined Savior,_ and _Shimmering-Sky_ for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are great.**

 **On a completely unrelated note, I don't know why but I really think Sixx A.M.'s song "Rise" fits this story (and, maybe, canon) rather well. Or maybe that's just me. It's a badass song though.**

 **Anyway, here is chapter 9. Chapter 10 will be posted...let's try for Sunday. I warn you, Chapter 10 has a bit of a nasty cliffhanger and, while I am warning you, I am not sorry. I hope that you enjoy this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 _"It looks as though things are starting to diverge."_

 _"You knew that it was coming, Yukari."_

 _"As did you, Chrono."_

 _"So why are you bringing it up now? We all know that the upcoming meeting can still go a different way."_

 _"Are you really so sure that it will? You know all the timelines in which she made an appearance…"_

 _"Nothing is absolute, least of all time and the future. Even you know that fates can be changed just as swiftly as futures. All I'm saying is that there is a possibility that something different will happen during the upcoming confrontation."_

 _"And if things do go as we think it will go?"_

 _"Then things will be easier for the White Knight but also more tragic in the long run. One thing is for sure, this is the catalyst, the turning point. Things will never be the same after this."_

 _"I agree, even if the majority of the timelines we've seen reach a similar end."_

 _"This timeline hasn't yet reached an end as you well know. Things can still go different. Just because the end was very similar for the other timelines does not mean that is the case for this timeline."_

 _"I know. However, I believe that this event may be the event that will alter a certain someone's fate. We won't know for a while yet."_

 _"Agreed."_

 **. . .**

 **Stage 09**

 **Kidnapped**

Satoru had to admit that he was actually grateful that Itsuki had decided to join with Zero. That guy was brilliant. Not only was he able to get into places no one would normally get into so easily but he was also the reason why so many of their missions since they became the Black Knights had gone off with little problems. At first, Satoru had his doubts about joining Zero, especially since Zero hadn't been able to save a lot of his comrades at Saitama but those doubts were dashed away after Kawaguchi.

Satoru had joined the Yamato Alliance for one reason: revenge. Britannia had taken everything away from him and his family. Satoru had only been eight years old when Britannia had invaded and yet he could still remember the pain of watching his home get destroyed around him. He, his big brother, and his parents had been lucky that they had a cellar and used that to escape the airstrike that turned Tokyo into a wasteland.

But they had been one of few who had survived the airstrike and their family had not made it. Aunts, uncles, and cousins had all been killed and that only helped to solidify his hatred for Britannia. He was just thankful that his parents and his big brother were still alive.

Even if his big brother had decided to throw away his pride and become a dog for Britannia.

Satoru scowled as he glared at the wall. He was currently lounging within the Black Knights' current headquarters since he didn't really want to go home. His parents would welcome him with open arms, he knew, but that was only because they didn't know about his activities. He knew that they wouldn't approve of what he was doing; they were content with just living beneath the radar but Satoru was not.

He wanted to _do_ something. He wanted to fight. He wanted to avenge his fallen relatives. He wanted to realize his dream of freeing Japan from Britannia's control.

And he definitely didn't want to become a dog for Britannia like his big brother Kenji.

Satoru did care for his big brother. He always would. Kenji was his brother and family bonds were just too strong to sever just because they disagreed on their opinion on Britannia and the Honorary Britannian System. But he was still upset with his big brother's decision. He just couldn't believe that his prideful big brother would sell himself out like that.

"Yo, Satoru, you okay?" Masaki asked, dropping into a seat beside Satoru.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Satoru assured the olive-green haired young man. Masaki and Satoru, being sixteen and fifteen respectively, were easily the youngest members of the Black Knights. At first, Satoru had been worried that he wouldn't get the chance to fight back against Britannia when he had first got into contact with the Yamato Alliance but the leader before Itsuki hadn't minded that he joined. Itsuki hadn't been too happy that Satoru, and later Masaki, had joined but he couldn't deny that they were both skilled fighters, even if they weren't as good as Hikari or Itsuki himself with Knightmares.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, just thinking. Does Zero have anything for us to do?" Like his brother, Satoru hated not having something to do but, unlike his brother, he didn't get fidgety and could actually sit still for more than ten minutes. It made Satoru wonder just how his big brother managed to get through basic training when he joined the military but that just brought bad memories of the last time they spoke and he shoved the thought out of his mind.

He and Kenji had not parted on good terms and, while Kenji seemed to be trying to mend the bridges that their argument had damaged, Satoru still resented his big brother's decision and still hated Britannia and anyone who worked for Britannia. Perhaps that was why he didn't want to talk with his brother, perhaps, even though he did care for him, a part of him hated his brother for his decision.

When Masaki replied that he didn't, Satoru nodded and stood up. "I'm going to get some fresh air," he said and left the headquarters. He started walking around the Shinjuku Ghetto, sticking to the shadows and observing the ruins that had been caused by the massacre Prince Clovis had ordered. He pressed his lips together as he surveyed the damage.

Seeing the damage on screen and seeing it in real life were two very different things. Satoru felt that Britannia's cruelty was made all the more real by witnessing the aftermath of such a tragedy first hand rather than on the television screen.

He rounded the corner but frowned when he spotted someone walking toward him. He kept on walking though, keeping his head low. Perhaps it was just a family member paying their respects to the fallen.

The person was wearing a storm-gray shirt accented by blood-red. His jacket was dark-red and the hood was pulled up over his head, hiding his features from view. "Hey, you," he said.

Satoru stopped, since he was the only one there at the moment and he knew that this man couldn't be talking to anyone else. Trying to keep the fear out of his voice, he said, "Y…Yes?" and cursed himself for stuttering.

"Relax, I'm not going to harm you," the man said, moving closer. "I'm an ally."

"An ally?"

"Yes. _I'm an ally and I have a message for Zero,_ " the man said in near-perfect Japanese, though there was a slight accent.

 _He speaks almost perfect Japanese, though Japanese was outlawed in Area 11 after the invasion. Could he really be our ally?_ Satoru thought.

" _You can trust me. I may not be Japanese, like you, but I am a friend and sympathetic to your cause. The people I represent desire to help Zero if he is willing to accept our help. We may not be as large as the Japan Liberation Front but we can still help. All I ask is that you deliver a letter. That's it. It can't be traced so I won't be able to find your headquarters,_ " the man said, pulling out a folded letter in his hand and holding it out to Satoru who was, for his part, trying to make sense of what was happening.

He didn't see any harm in accepting the letter and delivering it to Zero though. It was just a letter after all and it wasn't as if it could be traced or anything like that. Besides, this guy spoke Japanese, the language that was outlawed seven years ago, and sounded sincere.

"All right," he said and took the letter.

" _I bid you a good day,_ " the man said and walked off.

Satoru watched him go and shrugged, pocketing the letter and continuing on his walk. He wasn't stupid and he wasn't about to risk being followed by that odd man. He may be willing to deliver that letter to Zero but he wasn't going to lead that man straight to headquarters.

After wandering around for a good hour or so, Satoru made his way back to the subway tunnel, entering it and walking toward the van-like vehicle. Walking into it, he noticed that some more Black Knights had joined Ituski and Masaki. Hikari was there, talking with Inoue and Sugiyama while Tamaki was lounging on the couch, chatting with Ohgi and Yoshida.

"Hey, you're back," Masaki greeted Satoru as he closed the door behind him. "How was your walk?"

"Good. Hey, do you know where Zero is?" Satoru asked.

"Not entirely sure," Tamaki admitted.

"Oh."

"Why?" Ohgi asked curiously.

"Oh, I just got something to give to him," Satoru said and explained what happened while he was out in the ghetto.

There was a long moment of silence before Inoue smacked her forehead. "You're an idiot," she said.

"I can't help but agree with Inoue," Hikari said dryly, rubbing her head. "What the hell possessed you to trust someone you just met who didn't even tell you his name?"

"He seemed sincere," Satoru said innocently.

"That doesn't necessarily mean he is sincere," Ohgi said.

"Let's see the letter," Itsuki said, standing up and holding out a hand to Satoru who hesitated but handed it over.

Itsuki opened it and read it quietly to himself. He then turned it over a few times, running his fingers along it. "Doesn't feel as if there's a tracer of sorts on it and the letter seems innocent enough," he said.

"What's it say?" Yoshida asked.

Itsuki cleared his throat and began reading:

" _Zero,_

 _My name is Viktor Gale. I am the leader of an organization known simply as the People United Against Britannia, or P.U.A.B. for short—a rather straightforward name if I do say so myself—and I am contacting you to, perhaps, schedule a meeting so that we may discuss the possibility of an alliance between the P.U.A.B and the Black Knights. We both have similar goals; you strive to liberate Japan while we strive to liberate all countries that have been subjected to Britannia's cruel rule._

 _My representative will meet with you, or a representative of your choosing, at the_ _remains of the Crimson Haven bar in the Saitama Ghetto at seven tomorrow evening_ _. If you or your representative do not show up then we will assume that you have rejected our offer for an alliance. I, however, strongly suggest that you, at least, come to hear us out._

 _Your truly,_

 _Viktor Gale_

 _Leader of the People United Against Britannia._ "

 ****"Sounds like a trap," Tamaki huffed. "What kind of idiot writes a _letter_ that can be easily intercepted and then gives it to someone on the off-chance that someone actually knows Zero? And what kind of name is the P.U.A.B. anyway?"

"Seems pretty straightforward to me, granted the acronym isn't that great but it's still straight to the point he's obviously trying to make," Hikari said with a thoughtful shrug.

"Did Tamaki just say something _smart_?" Yoshida murmured to Inoue at the same time, bewildered

"I heard that!" Tamaki exclaimed loudly.

"But Tamaki has a point," Ohgi said with a frown.

"Well, it's written in Japanese," Itsuki said. "And there aren't many Britannians who actually speak Japanese, let alone can write it."

"Well, there's also the fact that no one even comes here anymore," Sugiyama said.

"That just makes it more suspicious," Hikari murmured, narrowing her eyes distrustfully at the letter. "So what do we do? Do we tell Zero about this?"

"I think we'd better," Ohgi said, straightening up and pulling out the disposable phone that Zero had given him to keep in contact with him just in case something, like this letter, should come up.

Satoru blinked, noticing that the air in the room seemed to hum with uncertainty and worry. "These guys just wanna meet with us, right? It can't be that bad if they just want to talk," he said.

Hikari shook her head. "You're too naïve, Satoru," she said.

 **. . .**

"My Lord, we delivered the letter as requested."

"Excellent. I assume you had no trouble finding the boy."

"It wasn't quite that hard, my Lord. And the boy was more naïve than I thought he would be."

"Do not expect Zero or his representative to be as naïve as that boy."

"I understand. But sir, may I ask you something?"

"You may."

"Why are we considering allying ourselves with the Black Knights? They're still too new on the scene and haven't exactly proven their strength. Even Kyoto hasn't contacted them yet."

"Kyoto will test them but I see it is pointless to do that. Zero has a lot of potential and I believe that if we work together, I can bring out his true potential and we can take this world by storm and overthrow Britannia for good."

"I see. I apologize for questioning your decision, my Lord."

"Apology accepted. You are dismissed."

There was the sound of feet on the polished wooden floor and the click of a closing door. Then another door opened and another person entered the small office.

"You called for me, my Lord?"

"Yes, I have a mission for you, my dear."

"Anything you command, my Lord."

"It looks as though you are going to be taking a trip to Area 11. You will act as my representative and speak on my behalf. We will work on what it is I want you to say later."

"I understand, my Lord."

 **. . .**

Kenji was bored… _again._

It was days like these that he truly regretted joining the military and becoming an Honorary Britannian. It got to the point that his companions were getting irritated with him, because he was currently tapping a pen against the side table in tune with an old lullaby his parents used to sing to him and his baby brother when they were younger; Satoru may only be two years younger than Kenji but he still referred to him as his baby brother just because he knew it annoyed him.

"Will you stop that?" one of his bunkmates, Akio, said.

Kenji sighed and removed the pen from the side table. "Sorry," he said.

"Man, you look bored out of your skull," his other bunkmate, Ken, mused.

"I hate not having anything to do," Kenji muttered.

"You ain't the only one," Akio said, throwing himself back onto his bunk above Kenji's. "This sucks! I wish we'd get to see some action. We didn't even get to go to Kawaguchi with the rest of Cornelia's forces."

"That's 'cause she doesn't like us Numbers, even if we are Honorary Britannians," Ken huffed.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask. How did you get out of Shinjuku alive, Kenji? I mean, no one else but that Kururugi guy survived," Akio said.

Kenji swallowed the bitter jealousy that rose up in him again at the mention of Suzaku. "I guess I just got lucky," he said.

"Yeah, probably," Ken said. His stomach growled at that moment and he sat up. "Wonder if the commander will let Mr. Bored here go out and get us dinner again."

"He probably will as long as Mr. Bored gets him something too like he did last time," Akio said thoughtfully.

"Why do you assume that I'm gonna go out and get you guys dinner again?" Kenji asked.

"Because you will, if only to get out and do something," Ken said with a shrug.

Kenji thought for a minute, then shrugged. "Eh, you got a point there," he said. He really did prefer to be kept moving; that was why he didn't mind all the extra practice and drills that they had to do now that they weren't being given missions to complete, even if those were only in the mornings and early afternoons.

Ten minutes later, Kenji was making his way down the streets of the Tokyo Settlement, searching for a suitable restaurant to spend what little money he had been given by the commander to buy the food. He was thankful that the commander really was a hell of a lot nicer than his last one, and infinitely nicer than the Royal Guard.

Suddenly, he bumped into someone. "Sorry," he said quickly and blinked when he found himself staring at a beautiful girl with sunglasses resting over her eyes and long, white-blonde hair that fell over her shoulder.

The girl, who looked to be about sixteen, giggled. "It's okay, Kenji Sato," she said brightly.

Kenji blinked in surprise. _How did she know my name?_

"Oh, right, you haven't met me yet. I'm Bree. Nice to meet you," the girl said happily, holding out a hand to a confused Kenji who numbly took it and shook it.

"Um, nice to meet you. Uh, how do you know my name?" he asked. The girl didn't look dangerous but then looks could be deceiving and Kenji found himself tensing just in case he needed to fight, or get the hell out of there depending on the situation.

"A story for another day, if we see each other again, which we probably won't depending on how things go from here on out. I'm just waiting here 'cause I'm gonna meet someone, I think. I could meet someone or I could not. I really don't know." Bree giggled and Kenji sweatdropped, trying to make some sense of the girl's words.

"Um, yeah, I need to get going."

"Oh, right, right. Shouldn't keep ya from doing what you gotta do, whichever that is anyway. I really don't know. I mean you are supposed to be dead but then you didn't die this time but did die other times and boy did that screw everything up, you not dying that is. Or maybe you dying is what screwed everything up. Man, I didn't even realize you were that important! Or maybe you're not and just happen to be one of those anomalies. Nah, you aren't that either. Well, I gotta go now. I found my friend! Bye bye!" Bree happily jogged off toward where a broad-shouldered man was standing.

Kenji watched her go in complete confusion. _That. Was. Weird,_ he thought and pushed the encounter out of his mind as he headed off to find a restaurant.

 **. . .**

"Who was that?" Bruno asked gruffly, narrowing his eyes as he watched the dark-blue haired young man walk away.

"Ah, he's harmless…to me anyway. He's got a bit of a jealousy problem though. That's what those visions where he survived showed me anyway but then, most of the time he doesn't survive. I wonder why he survived this time. Must have something to do with my White Knight or maybe not. I dunno really. It's all so very confusing, like a braid, a braid of licorice! Mm, licorice sounds good right about now," Bree said brightly.

Even Bruno had a hard time understanding his Lady half the time. Bree had a tendency of going off on a tangent and of talking really fast whenever she got into one of her moods. Bruno knew about Bree's gift and how it had gone out of control and he was sure that the multitude of visions that assaulted her mind all the time had made it unstable. He also knew that was the main reason why Bree was acting the way she was; her instability wasn't entirely due to her power though. Her past also played a large part in that; the only reason she wasn't in an insane asylum was because Bruno refused to let his Lady stay there.

He was loyal to her and only her and would keep her safe from anyone who wished to harm her just as he would do whatever she wanted.

"I have come up with a plan to get the two that you want, Lady Bree," Bruno said, changing the subject to what he had originally wanted to talk to his lady about.

"Oh, really? That's awesome!"

"I've also found an ideal location that you can speak to them in. I will get them in a few hours and you can speak with them either later today or in the morning. Does that sound good, my Lady?"

"That sounds just perfect, dear Bruno!" Bree said cheerfully. "I look forward to seeing my beloved White Knight, not so much _him_ though. Shame I can't kill him but, at least I can turn him against his so-called friend." She giggled and twirled around, thinking about how her first interaction with Suzaku Kururugi would go.

 _Ah, meeting you, my time-traveling White Knight, is going to be simply marvelous,_ she thought with a giggle.

 **. . .**

"Why are we doing this again?" Suzaku asked, scanning the list of items. Milly had dragged him and Lelouch into going shopping for supplies for the festival that she would be holding in a few days. She basically said that they needed to stock up on supplies, thrust a list into Suzaku's hands, ordered him to take Lelouch with him, and all but pushed them out the door.

"This is Milly we're talking about," Lelouch said with a shrug.

"But why us?"

"Probably 'cause you were closest to the door and I just happened to be right next to you. I'm wondering why she needed both of us to go though. Just how much are we getting anyway?"

Suzaku held out the list and Lelouch scanned it, sweatdropping when he saw the quantities. "Why does she need all this stuff anyway? And why now?" Suzaku asked

"She likes to be prepared and I think our last festival was what really took the last of the supplies. Milly kinda went overboard, especially with the giant pizza she keeps trying to make, and keeps failing at," Lelouch said thoughtfully.

Suzaku smiled a little at the thought of the giant pizza incident. In the old timeline, he had been the one tasked with attempting to make one of the giant pizzas using Lelouch's mother's old Knightmare, the _Ganymede_ , and was probably going to get dragged into doing that again during the next festival. He wondered if it would fail as it had during the old timeline or not.

Lelouch's phone started ringing at that moment. He blinked and glanced at it before ignoring the call.

"Aren't you going to answer that?" Suzaku asked.

"It's not important," Lelouch said, his face impassive.

Even after working with Lelouch in the old timeline, it was still virtually impossible for Suzaku to know when Lelouch was lying or not.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yeah," Lelouch said. "I'll just call whoever it is back later."

"Okay, I suppose." _It's probably someone from the Black Knights. I wonder if Lelouch will ever tell me that he's Zero._ _I'm honestly surprised he hasn't confronted me since I have no doubt I made him suspicious with what I told him after that Cat Hunt_ _,_ Suzaku thought as they walked. Those thoughts were dashed out of his mind by the sudden prick he felt on his neck right before darkness filled his vision.

By the time Suzaku regained consciousness, he wasn't entirely sure what happened or why he had been hit by what had to have been a tranquilizer dart. It was odd since this had definitely not happened in the old timeline; then again, neither had the impromptu shopping trip.

 _I suppose nothing really does happen the same way twice,_ Suzaku mused, lifting his head as the dazed feeling started to fade. He felt that there were chains around his wrists and that they were chained above his head and he was sitting on the ground but he didn't feel any pain and, when he moved, the only sound came from the clanking of his chains.

 _Looks like a kidnapping,_ he thought, looking around until he spotted Lelouch in the same predicament across from him, though he still looked unconscious.

"Oh, lookie. He's up! He's up!" A cheerful voice said and Suzaku turned toward the source to find a girl with white-blonde hair and sunglasses over her eyes, though they were inside, skipping toward him. That made him wary as it got him thinking about Mao, who also wore sunglasses to hide his Geass-encompassed eyes. It made Suzaku tense and on high alert but he kept his face neutral as the girl joined him, smiling brightly.

"Hi, Suzaku Kururugi. It's so nice to finally meet you! I swear I thought I'd have to wait years to meet you, or months, or just never meet you at all, which would have really sucked! How could I not meet the time-traveling White Knight?!" She said happily.

Suzaku froze, eyes widening at the girl's last words and he had to struggle to put a mask of impassiveness and confusion up. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Oh don't be like that, silly! I know all about you. I saw your timeline, y'know? Did ya know that there are a lot of timelines? And I mean _a lot_. I've counted seven so far but there could be more and I could be counting one or so twice on accident. It's really a drag trying to organize all of 'em," the girl said and giggled while Suzaku attempted, and failed, to understand just what the girl was trying to say.

"Oh, silly me, I know who you are but you don't know who I am. I'm Bree and you, my White Knight, are…well… _my_ White Knight," Bree said happily.

Suzaku noted the way she stressed the word 'my' and frowned because he had never met this girl before, even in the old timeline. "What do you want?" he asked, keeping his voice level.

"Oh you don't have to be so mean, my White Knight," Bree said with a happy smile. "I'm not gonna hurt you. Him,"—she gestured toward Lelouch and Suzaku noticed just how the smile was replaced by a vicious scowl—"he's another story though."

Suzaku narrowed his eyes. He and Lelouch had mended their friendship while they were planning the Zero Requiem and Suzaku saw Lelouch as his best friend again. He supposed the fact that the people that had died due to Lelouch's actions were still alive helped with that fact because he knew that there was a good chance he and Lelouch could stop those people from dying.

After all, they could do anything together.

Still, though Suzaku would _never_ forget what Lelouch had done, he had made the decision to forgive him. As Shirley had said in the old timeline, nothing was unforgiveable and the only thing that was keeping Suzaku from forgiving his oldest and best friend was the simple fact that he didn't _want_ to forgive him.

In the end, Shirley's words had been the catalyst that helped him to come to terms with what happened and forgive his oldest friend.

Lelouch was still Suzaku's best friend and he would damned, more so than he already was with the blood of his father as well as everyone he had killed in the old timeline on his hands, if he let this unknown woman harm him.

"I won't let you hurt him," he said firmly.

Bree giggled. "Even though he killed your precious princess Euphie, caused Shirley's death, and pretty much destroyed the entire world?"

Suzaku didn't answer, mostly because he was puzzling over Bree's words. She said that she had seen the timeline he came from, though he had no idea how—he was beginning to have a sinking feeling as to what was at fault—but her words suggested that she hadn't seen everything. Otherwise, she would have known that not only had he forgiven Lelouch for what he'd done but Lelouch destroying the entire world had all been part of the Zero Requiem plan..

He decided to play it safe and deny. "I don't know what you're talking about. Princess Euphemia and Shirley are still alive and, last I checked, the world wasn't destroyed," he said.

"But that doesn't mean it isn't gonna happen," Bree said with a giggle. "But, fine, fine. I wasn't planning on hurting him…physically anyway. I just want him away from you."

"Why?" Suzaku said puzzled.

"'Cause I want you to be mine! You and I could do so much together. We both have a similar Geass after all," Bree said brightly.

 _So my suspicions were right. She does have a Geass,_ Suzaku thought, deciding not to think about how Bree had said those first words, as if he was simply a toy or a collectible that she could buy at a store.

A groan sounded and Bree glanced over her shoulder. "Oh, lookie, our resident demon is waking up," she said, that scowl curving her lips again. "Well, it was nice chatting with you but now it's time we got down to business. I will break your friendship with Lelouch vi Britannia and I know exactly how to do that." She giggled again and moved over to stand by Lelouch while Suzaku frowned, trying to figure out just what Bree meant by that.

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Blaze: well, I was hoping that I'd be able to make this chapter a bit better when I decided to go back and rewrite it...yeah, nothing really changed**

 **Suzaku: your OC's weird**

 **Blaze: tell me about it. I was trying to make her a yandere with the Geass of Absolute Future and she kinda went crazy and weird on her own**

 **Lelouch: do I wanna know what you have planned for the next chapter?**

 **Blaze: it's not too bad, well, except for the cliffhanger ending**

 **Lelouch: ...something bad's going to happen to me and Suzaku, isn't it?**

 **Blaze: (smirks mysteriously)**

 **Lelouch: oh boy**

 **Charles: hello**

 **Lelouch: (pulls out freezing chainsaw he stole...ahem... _borrowed_ from Blaze)**

 **Charles: (takes off running)**

 **Suzaku: (sighs) well, at least he isn't taking your flaming machete anymore**

 **Blaze: nope**

 **Suzaku: ...where is your flaming machete?**

 **Umbridge: GET THIS PSYCHOTIC MUGGLE AWAY FROM ME!**

 **Bakura: WHO ARE YOU CALLING A MUGGLE, YOU FOOLISH MORTAL WIZARD? (Chasing after Umbridge with flaming machete in one hand and the Kurikara in the other)**

 **Rin: so that's where that went**

 **Yukio: (facepalms)**

 **Blaze: Huh? So that's what he stole this time. I don't own _Harry Potter, Yu-Gi-Oh!, or Ao no Exorcist_ by the way. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, even if it was short. The next chapter's...actually a bit shorter but at least you have a 14 single-spaced page chapter 11 to look forward to. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**


	10. Stage 10: Memories

**Well, only four people reviewed the last chapter but then, I am updating only three days after the last update so I suppose that could be that why.**

 **Bakura: or they decided that this story sucks**

 **Bakura, you are an asshole, you know that?**

 **Bakura: … you did not just figure that out _now_?**

 **Good point. Anyway, this chapter is short—only eight pages—but it's got a pretty intense cliffhanger and the next chapter is, at the moment, 14 pages so that could make up for it...possibly. So, yeah, here is chapter 10 with the cliffhanger and the next update will come...whenever**

 **Bakura: and by whenever, she means six months from now**

 **Tch, it won't be that long. Anyway, whoops, I haven't thanked my reviewers.**

 **Thank you to _ewertondragon, Determined Savior, Xeenith,_ and _Shimmering-Sky_ for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are awesome as usual.**

 **Here is chapter 10—yes, I know I already said that. Shut up, Bakura—and I hope that you enjoy it. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 **I feel like I'm forgetting something...**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 _"Lelouch, I want to ask you something," he said. They were currently standing in the empty throne room, facing each other. They had been going over the finer details of the Zero Requiem but something just kept bugging him and he found himself wanting to know…the truth, this time._

 _"What?" Lelouch asked._

 _"Why did you kill Euphie?"_

 _"I already told you…"_

 _"I want the truth," he said firmly. "I don't want a lie, Lelouch. I know you lied to me at the Kururugi Shrine simply because you've been lying for so long that it's practically become second nature to you but I want the truth. Why did you kill Euphie? And, on that note, why did you use your Geass on her?"_

 _Lelouch was silent for a long moment. "I never meant to," he said finally and he could hear the sincerity in his voice. He reached up and removed the contacts from his eyes, revealing the permanent Geass glowing in both of his irises. "We had just been talking. Euphie had already convinced me to support the SAZ by this point, you know. I was trying to explain my Geass to her, without actually telling her what it was and that it was a Geass. I basically told her that if I ordered her to kill all the Japanese people, she would have no choice but to obey. But my Geass just went out of control the very instant I spoke that order, taking control of and implanting that order into Euphie's mind."_

" _I never meant for it to happen, Suzaku," Lelouch added with a sigh. "Euphie was probably one of the few siblings that I have that I actually truly care about. She and Nunnally and I were very close when we were younger and I did love her. I never wanted to hurt her. But, after my Geass went out of control, runaway is what C.C. called it, I couldn't take back that order. I can only order someone to do something once after all."_

" _As for killing Euphie, you have to believe me when I say that that was, by far, the hardest decision I ever had to make. I had no choice though. I couldn't cancel the Geass order I gave to Euphie and she would not have stopped until either someone killed her or she had killed all the Japanese people. I doubted anyone would actually kill her because, despite what she was doing, she was still a princess. But I also knew of just how heartbroken Euphie would have been had she succeeded in fulfilling that order, especially since she would have had to kill you in order for the order to be fulfilled."_

 _Lelouch closed his eyes. "I killed her because I had no other choice, no matter how much I hated doing it, no matter how much I wanted to find another way, I knew there wasn't another way. In a way, it was a mercy killing her then because she wouldn't have to live with the knowledge that she had killed the very people she was trying to help, even if it was my fault."_

 _He was silent for a long moment, studying Lelouch for any sign that he was lying to him. When he found nothing but sincerity, and agony, he realized that his old friend was telling the truth. And it was as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders; Shirley had been right. He couldn't forgive Lelouch simply because he didn't_ want _to forgive him. Now that he knew Lelouch's side of the story, he knew that he could forgive him. He would never forget,_ never _, but he could forgive._

 _Shirley was right._

 _Nothing was unforgivable._

 **. . .**

 **Stage 10**

 **Memories**

Ohgi hung up the phone and placed it back on the coffee table in front of him. "He's still not answering his phone," he said with a frown.

"Maybe he's busy," Hikari suggested.

"That's probably it. Maybe he's coming up with some plan to kick some Britannian ass and doesn't want to be disturbed," Tamaki suggested.

"I suppose that's possible," Ohgi said. "Well, until we get in touch with Zero, there's really nothing we can do about that letter."

"But Gale said he wants to meet with a representative tomorrow night at seven and if no one shows up then he could think we are rejecting his offer when, in truth, we haven't had a chance to even discuss it with Zero yet," Masaki pointed out.

"But maybe we should send a representative just to hear him out at least," Satoru suggested.

"It's too risky sending anyone to talk to this representative without backup. For all we know, they could be an agent for the Empire and could just be trying to draw Zero out," Ohgi said.

"I wouldn't put it past Cornelia to try something like that. She may be grateful to Zero for rescuing Princess Euphemia but I am not stupid enough to think that gratitude will last for much longer, if it hasn't dissolved already," Inoue said.

"Then we just go to the meeting point and kick this guy's ass until he tells us why he _really_ wants to talk to us," Tamaki said firmly, smacking his fist into the palm of his hands.

"Tamaki, you're an idiot," Yoshida said, rolling his eyes.

"Antagonizing the P.U.A.B. probably isn't the best thing to do," Itsuki said.

"Why not?" Ohgi asked, turning his attention to the former leader of the Yamato Alliance.

Itsuki was scanning some information on the computer he had borrowed earlier and looked up at Ohgi's question. "I've been doing some research on the People United Against Britannia.," he said. "They're an organization that used to be based in the E.U. but were driven out after an assault on a Britannian embassy led to a clash with Prince Schneizel's forces. They lost the battle and started hiding out and striking in the Areas, most notably Areas Four and Eight."

"What happened?" Hikari asked.

"In Area Four, they bombed a school, killing eighty percent of the children and ninety percent of the staff there and not all of the causalities were Britannians," Itsuki explained, before he opened up another one and added, "And this one states that they had attacked and bombed a hospital as well as the Viceroy's palace in Area Eight."

"They _bombed a hospital_!" Inoue exclaimed.

"Even we never did that. Hell, I don't think even the JLF have done that," Masaki said with a shake of his head. "Do you really think Zero would work with these guys? I mean, didn't he refuse to work with Kusakabe because he was doing something similar, putting innocent lives in danger and killing them, I mean?"

"He said we were knights for justice," Ohgi said, pressing his lips together. "What the P.U.A.B. seem to be doing doesn't seem like justice to me."

The group nodded in agreement and fell into silence and then Ohgi glanced at the time and stretched. "It's getting late," he said.

Hikari yawned. "I think I'm gonna crash here tonight," she said.

"I think I will too," Satoru said.

"Goodnight then," Ohgi said.

"Goodnight."

After Ohgi and the rest of the former Kozuki resistance left, Hikari, lying down on the couch, turned onto her side to peer down at Itsuki, who had also decided to spend the night at the current headquarters.

"Hey, big brother?" Hikari said.

"What's up?" Itsuki asked.

"I'm curious. Haven't you ever wondered just who Zero actually is?" Hikari asked. She had been thinking about that for a while now, ever since she first met Zero back in Saitama.

"Yeah, I have," Itsuki admitted. "But he must be keeping his identity from us for a reason."

"But why? Doesn't he trust us?"

"Do you trust him?"

Hikari opened her mouth but then closed it because she found that she couldn't answer that question positively. Zero may have saved their lives at Saitama and he had managed to lead them to victory against Kusakabe and during all those drug raids but that didn't mean that she suddenly trusted him. But then she didn't trust a lot of people, her brother and her friends within the Yamato Alliance were probably the only ones she did trust.

"No, not entirely anyway," she admitted. She turned onto her back and gazed up at the ceiling. "I might trust him more if I knew who he was but he hasn't exactly done anything to earn my distrust, aside from keeping his identity a secret. Wonder if maybe he's actually a girl."

Itsuki chuckled. "I doubt it but I guess it's possible. Whatever he uses to change his voice could be hiding that fact," he said.

"Itsuki, do you trust him?" Satoru asked from where he was lounging on the armchair.

Itsuki fell silent. "I'm willing to give him a chance to earn my trust," he said. "The only reason I agreed to work with him was because Naoto trusted Ohgi and Ohgi seems to trust Zero. If Ohgi trusts Zero then I trust his judgment."

"Mm." Satoru fell silent. "I trust him," he said. "He hasn't let us down yet and he did help us put Cornelia on the run at Saitama."

Hikari smirked. She did like that they had managed to make Cornelia retreat and, whether it was part of Cornelia's plan or not, she felt it was an accomplishment. Her smiled faded and she added, "Wonder what Zero plans on doing about Cornelia? I mean it won't be long before her 'gratitude' toward Zero for saving that princess goes away, like Inoue said."

"Who knows? We can ask him when we see him next, I suppose," Itsuki said.

"Wonder when that'll be."

Itsuki shrugged. "I dunno," he said.

 **. . .**

C.C. was worried.

It was already late and Lelouch still wasn't back yet. While that normally wouldn't affect C.C. at all, as it did Nunnally who had voiced her concern to both C.C. and Sayoko before Sayoko had put her to bed, this time it was different. This time it was because she could feel stirrings in the World of C as if someone with a Geass was close by.

She only had a link to the contractors that she contracted with, which was why she knew that Lelouch was still alive, if not entirely conscious, but she was still connected to the World of C. That was why she had sensed that odd stirring of power around Suzaku Kururugi and that was why she felt as if Lelouch had just come into contact with another contractor but not one of hers.

 _Could this be one of V.V.'s contractors?_ She thought as she relaxed on her stomach on Lelouch's bed, chewing on a slice of pepperoni pizza.

 _I think it might be._

"Can you tell, for sure, whether it is or not?" C.C. asked quietly after swallowing a bite of the food.

 _…I believe it is and V.V. does seem a bit worried. He hasn't said anything to Charles, probably out of fear that I would hear, but I can see the worry he's trying to hide on his face. He knows something._

"Hmm. I think that he knows something's gone wrong with one of his contractors and he's possibly worrying over how to deal with it and if it will affect anything," C.C. mused. "I suppose that's what happens when someone is so new to giving out contracts like V.V. is. I told him that he needed to actually _think_ before giving out a contract or else he could end up making a big mistake." C.C.'s thoughts went to Mao, the child whom she had contracted with in an attempt to mold him into the perfect person to fulfill her wish only for it to backfire when Mao became practically obsessed with her and unable to fulfill his end of the contract. To this day, Mao was still her greatest mistake.

 _I was not expecting V.V. to give a contract to anyone other than Charles or someone in the Order._

"Then again, how do we know this contractor is outside of the Order? He or she could have gone rogue after I left. I did stop paying attention to the Order members after I left after all," C.C. said, taking another bite of her pizza. "Well, it doesn't matter now. All that matters is that this contractor, whoever it is, is in the same vicinity as Lelouch and Lelouch isn't exactly conscious enough to deal with him or her."

 _So you're going after him?_

"I do have to prevent him from dying after all," C.C. said with a shrug.

 _That's true._

C.C. got up, finishing off her slice of pizza, and heading toward the door. Even if it was dull at the moment, due to Lelouch's semi-conscious state of mind, the link that C.C. had with the exiled prince was strong enough for her to follow.

 **. . .**

Lelouch stirred and, with a groan, blinked open his eyes. He had to blink them a few times as they adjusted to the dim-lighting of the room he was in. He felt chains around his arms and slowly lifted his head to find that his arms were chained above his head and he was seated on the ground. He blinked again, trying to remembering what exactly had happened.

He and Suzaku had been walking down the street, searching for a store to buy those supplies that Milly requested/demanded they get and then they had been hit by…something and the next thing Lelouch knew, he was in some…room who knew where.

"Hello," a cool voice said and Lelouch looked up to find a white-blonde haired girl with sunglasses over her eyes standing in front of him. The exiled prince bit his lip to keep from frowning in frustration because this girl's sunglasses prevented him from Geassing her into letting him go once he figured out just what was going on.

He didn't even know where Suzaku was either.

"And who might you be?" Lelouch asked, keeping his voice even and his face impassive.

"I'm Bree," the girl said, leaning forward. "And you, Lelouch vi Britannia, have been a huge thorn in my side for far too long." She then giggled when Lelouch stiffened, wondering how the hell this girl knew about his heritage. "You look so pathetic when you're shocked, Mr. Exiled Prince. I know all about you, probably more about you, your family, and your friendship with Suzaku Kururugi than you know yourself." She giggled again as she leaned back.

"You're crazy," Lelouch said flatly.

"Maybe I am. I would have to say, with all the timelines I've seen merging and twisting like braids, I think I would have to be crazy by now," Bree said.

Lelouch blinked, confused by Bree's words. _What does she mean by 'all the timelines'?_ He wondered.

"Well, it's about time that I removed you as a pain in my ass permanently, _Your Highness_ ," Bree said, sneering out the last two words as though they were a curse.

"You said you wouldn't harm him," Suzaku's familiar voice snapped.

Lelouch glanced over Bree's shoulder to find Suzaku, in the same predicament as him, glaring at Bree with icy green eyes.

"I said I wouldn't harm him _physically,_ my dear White Knight," Bree said with a giggle and a flirtatious smile tossed at Suzaku that the brunet completely ignored in favor of glancing at Lelouch, mouthing 'Are you all right?' to which Lelouch nodded briefly.

Bree scowled at the blatant dismissal and glared at Lelouch. "You know, this is all your fault," she said coolly. "If only you didn't have to come around and fuck up everything, every single time, in every single fucking timeline, I wouldn't have to do this."

"Just what did I do to get you so mad at me?" Lelouch asked, sounding bored. Frankly, now he was just trying to get Bree to remove the sunglasses, or perhaps get close enough that he could knock them off and then use his Geass on her.

Except…

Lelouch flicked his eyes toward Suzaku. _Do I want him to know about my Geass?_ He thought. He knew that C.C. suspected Suzaku had a Geass of his own but Lelouch just didn't know if he wanted anyone to know about his own power. Just because he suspected that Suzaku already knew about him being Zero didn't mean he wanted Suzaku to be privileged to all of his secrets.

"You. Ruin. Everything!" Bree growled slowly. "And I want to kill you so badly but that would really fuck up the timeline so I just decided to, at least, prevent you from fucking up my plans regarding my dear time-traveling White Knight."

Lelouch was beyond confused. This girl wasn't making any sense. Perhaps she really was insane. His thoughts drifted as he found himself latching on to Bree's last words.

Time-traveling _White Knight...?_

"What are you planning on doing?" Suzaku called.

Bree grinned back at Suzaku. "I plan on showing him exactly how much you value your 'friendship' with him, my beautiful White Knight," she said. She sat on her heels in front of Lelouch and added, "You see, my Geass has a secondary ability that can only work if my ability goes out of control. At least, that was how I figured out I had it. It allows me to give someone their memories of another timeline. Granted, I don't get to choose which timeline and, granted, I don't get to choose whether he receives only some or all of said memories but it'll work either way 'cause I have no doubt of which timeline he'll get his memories of. I mean, my Geass is called Absolute Future so I guess that'll mean he'll get all his memories of that specific timeline but ah well. It'll still work out well for me! Because no one can forgive what happened."

"Nothing is unforgivable," Suzaku said. It sounded as if he was quoting someone else.

Lelouch blinked, still not entirely sure what Bree was talking about. He understood that she had a Geass, and apparently couldn't control it, and it had to do with other timelines and memories. It was called Absolute Future and, apparently, it would…give him his memories of another timeline?

 _Was that even possible?_

Then again, Lelouch mused that his Geass shouldn't be possible either.

Bree laughed. "You're really funny, you know that, Suzaku, my love? We're gonna be so powerful together. You and me. Our Geasses will work so well together," she said happily.

 _So he_ does _have a Geass of his own_ , Lelouch thought, not as surprised as he thought he would be.

"Now, time to get started," Bree said, turning her attention to Lelouch. "Bruno, dear, cover our dear exiled prince's left eye. I don't want to be Geassed while I'm doing this."

A broad-shouldered man with pale-red eyes knelt beside Lelouch and immediately covered his left eye, causing him to scowl. He did try to get free though, but it was in vain.

Bree removed her sunglasses, revealing the red bird-like sigil around her left pupil as she locked eyes with Lelouch. " _Remember_ ," she ordered.

Lelouch's eyes widened as the bird-like symbol flew toward him— _so this is what those whom I've Geassed have experienced_ —and then a searing pain exploded in his head as memories that were, and yet weren't at the same time, his own surged through his mind.

The Shinjuku Ghetto…

Saitama with a different outcome that involved the complete annihilation of the Yamato Alliance…

The Kawaguchi incident in which Nunnally did not go…

And then memories of things that hadn't yet happened. (1)

 **. . .**

Suzaku watched the entire incident, holding his breath. Lelouch was still frozen, his eyes wide and a red-ring around the visible violet iris. It was odd seeing his best friend being Geassed and yet Suzaku couldn't help but feel a small pang of satisfaction at the thought of Lelouch now knowing what it felt like to be Geassed.

He shook his head. _Idiot, he was Geassed before in the old timeline,_ he thought, reminding himself that the Emperor had used his Geass on Lelouch in order to rewrite his memories when Suzaku had brought Lelouch before him.

Suzaku had been so filled with anger over Euphie's death that he had just wanted Lelouch to pay for killing her. While they were planning the Zero Requiem, though, Suzaku finally managed to ask Lelouch for the truth about what happened with Euphie and had learned exactly what happened and that it wasn't _entirely_ Lelouch's fault.

Suzaku found himself hoping that Lelouch would feel the same way because he knew that his betrayal of Lelouch had nearly been the final nail in the coffin of their friendship. And it probably would have been had Suzaku not been present during Lelouch's confrontation with his parents in the World of C, or even before that when he'd thought he'd killed Nunnally.

He turned his gaze to Lelouch who was still frozen, experiencing the onslaught of memories from Bree's Geass power. It was hard to believe that someone had the ability to even do something like that though. It really was and yet it was actually happening.

Bree broke her eye contact with Lelouch, though the red ring didn't vanish. "He'll come out of it soon enough," she said with a giggle and gestured to Bruno to release Lelouch's other eye as she stood up. She turned to Suzaku and smiled at him. "Once he realizes that you're going to betray him, my love, he'll cut ties with you faster than I can eat a single piece of licorice." She giggled.

"How can you be sure that he will?" Suzaku asked.

"Duh. I already told you why. He won't be able to forgive your betrayal," Bree said.

"Nothing is unforgivable," Suzaku said again.

"You keep on saying that. You know I find it really annoying," Bree huffed, her upper lip curling in a condescending sneer. "Just what bitch out there actually told you such a stupid thing?"

"She's not a bitch. She's one of my closest friends," Suzaku retorted.

Bree huffed. "Whatever. The bitch is wrong though. There are things that cannot be forgiven," she said.

"You're wrong there, Bree." Suzaku's eyes snapped toward Lelouch. The violet-eyed exiled prince had lifted his head; the red ring around his irises were gone.

"What?" Bree said, confused.

"Nothing is unforgivable. Suzaku is right about that," Lelouch said with a slight demonic smirk. "He forgave me for killing the woman he loved. I forgave him for betraying me and turning me over to the Emperor."

"You did not," Bree growled.

"Oh?" Lelouch raised an eyebrow. "And just how do you know that? Did you not realize that when you gave me my memories from that other timeline, you gave me _all_ of my memories, including the ones leading up to my own death? The Zero Requiem, Bree? Ever heard of it?"

 _He_ does _have all his memories of the old timeline,_ Suzaku thought. He hadn't thought Bree's Geass could actually do that.

Bree looked confused and she turned around to stare at Lelouch. "What are you talking about, you damn demon?!" She broke off and her eyes widened as a triumphant smirk crossed Lelouch's face and his Geass activated.

" _Do as I say until I say I release you,_ " Lelouch ordered.

Bree stiffened, eyes widening as her eyes took on the red ring around the irises.

 _She walked right into that. Lelouch was goading her into looking at him but he did speak of things he wouldn't otherwise know of so I've gotta assume that Bree did succeed in giving him all his memories of the old timeline,_ Suzaku thought.

"Order your bodyguard to leave and release Suzaku and I," Lelouch ordered.

"Yes, Master Lelouch," Bree said monotonously before she ordered her bodyguard to leave. Her bodyguard didn't look too happy but, at a stern glare from Bree, he left. She then pulled out a key and walked over to Suzaku, unlocking his chains and then doing the same with Lelouch while Suzaku, rubbing his wrists, got to his feet.

Lelouch also stood up, much more gracefully than Suzaku, and studied Bree for a long moment, clearly trying to decide what to do with her.

"Don't hurt her," Suzaku said.

Lelouch didn't take his eyes off Bree. "I release you," he said and the red rings vanished. Bree blinked and then scowled furiously at Lelouch.

"Damn you, you fucking bastard! Why must you keep fucking everything up for me?!" she screamed.

Lelouch was unfazed at all by the girl's anger. "Because I'm a 'fucking bastard' as you so eloquently put it," he said with a demonic smirk. "After all, I am, or became in that other timeline, the Demon Emperor, the most hated person in the entire world. Though, in all seriousness, you really must think highly of yourself if you truly think that I actually intentionally 'fucked up' your plans. I never even knew you existed before today."

Bree snarled in fury and stormed off, slamming the door to the room behind her as she went.

"You're going to let her go?" Suzaku asked.

"What's the point of keeping her around? I already released her so I won't be able to use my Geass on her anymore and I have enough blood on my hands as it is. Those memories…even if it's from another timeline, those crimes are still crimes that I committed," Lelouch said with a shrug and turned to Suzaku. His voice was expressionless and his face was a blank mask. Suzaku really couldn't get a read on what his friend was actually feeling about those memories, especially since he knew, for a fact, that quite a few of those memories weren't exactly pleasant.

"How do you feel?" he asked, deciding that he wouldn't remind Lelouch that most of them haven't happened yet. He, himself, still blamed himself for the deaths he caused in the old timeline as well.

"Like someone is constantly banging on my head with a slash harken," Lelouch said with a grimace, one hand going to his head. It wasn't exactly the answer that Suzaku was expecting but then he should've expected his friend to keep his feelings to himself. "I think it's going to take some time for my brain to actually come to accept these new memories."

"So you know…everything?"

"Yes, Suzaku, and, judging by your reaction, I suppose my suspicions were right. I had been wondering why she called you a ' _time traveling_ White Knight' after all. You're not from this time, are you?"

Suzaku averted his eyes. _I had been thinking about telling him about the future anyway. The only thing that was stopping me was whether or not he would believe me but, considering all that's happened today, I don't think that'll be much of a problem,_ he thought with a sigh.

"No, I'm not. I'm from about a week after the Zero Requiem was completed," he admitted, meeting Lelouch's violet gaze.

"Then did it work?" Lelouch asked. There was genuine curiosity in his voice. Now that he had all the knowledge of his counterpart, so to speak, from another timeline, Suzaku wasn't really surprised he was curious to know whether the Zero Requiem actually worked.

It was a shame that Suzaku didn't have good news for him.

Deciding that he couldn't put it off, even if he wanted to, Suzaku opened his mouth to respond.

Then an explosion sounded and the floor caved in beneath their feet.

 **. . .**

(1) If you want to know what he saw, do the simple thing; rewatch both seasons of _Code Geass_ 'cause that is basically what he sees.

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Lelouch: You. Are. Evil!**

 **Blaze: no, I'm crazy. There's a difference**

 **Suzaku: I thought you _liked_ us? Why the hell did you blow us up?!**

 **Blaze: _I_ didn't, my crazy yandere character got out of hand and decided that she wanted to "Exit, Pursued by a Bear" but since I couldn't find her a bear, I settled for letting her blow something up**

 **Suzaku: (facepalms)**

 **Lelouch: did you really just reference Shakespeare?**

 **Blaze: yup! One of my favorite plays by him too. And I don't own William Shakespeare**

 **Lelouch: (sweatdrops) We do survive, don't we?**

 **Blaze: duh. You two are the main characters. You could get thrown out of a fifty story window and still survive because of that.**

 **Suzaku: ah, will that...girl come back?**

 **Blaze: she plays a very large role in what I have planned for the Geass Order Arc in R2 so, yeah, unfortunately, she will come back**

 **Suzaku: (starts swearing) How many chapters until then?**

 **Blaze: (thinks about it) After this chapter, there are 19 chapters left of _Divergence_ and, according to the outline I have, 10 chapters into the sequel is when she'll make her return appearance**

 **Suzaku: so approximately 29 chapters?**

 **Blaze: yup**

 **Suzaku: anyway to make that 290 chapters?**

 **Blaze: even I can't write a story that long. _Rise of the Black King_ may currently be 80 chapters but it keeps fluctuating and I haven't gone above 81. That's pretty much the limit.**

 **Suzaku: damn**

 **Kallen: look at it this way, things can't possibly get worse**

 **Suzaku and Lelouch: DON'T SAY THAT!**

 **Kallen: (confused) why not?**

 **Suzaku: you'll jinx it**

 **Blaze: anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. By the way, if anyone can figure out which Shakespeare play I referenced, they'll get a virtual cookie of their choice. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter even with its cliffhanger and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**


	11. Stage 11: Truth

**Well, here is the next chapter that continues what happened in the last chapter.**

 **Bakura: no freaking duh**

 **Shut up, Bakura. Anyway, eight people reviewed the last chapter. Awesome.**

 **Thank you to _ewertondragon, Shadow-Shinobi666, FalseExact, Mr. Indigo, Xeenith, Shimmering-Sky, matronium,_ and _Determined Savior_ for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are awesome.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy the third chapter of the five-chapter non-canon arc. I will try to have the next chapter up before I go back to school on the 22nd but I make no promises. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 _He wondered if things would have been different had he known or accepted the truth from the very beginning._

 _Had he known about Zero being Lelouch, what would he have done?_

 _Had he accepted the truth that he would never achieve what he wanted to achieve using the means he was trying to use, would he have still done it?_

 _Had he known of one of the reasons why Lelouch went through with the Zero Requiem, would he have still agreed to it?_

 _There was no denying that Lelouch had gone through with the Zero Requiem in order to give the world a chance to rebuild but there was another truth, one that, surprisingly enough, Nunnally had suggested._

 _"Suzaku, is it possible that Big Brother went through with the Zero Requiem because he'd given up?" Nunnally asked softly._ _It was the day after the funeral Nunnally had insisted be given to Lelouch and she and Suzaku were in the gardens, as Nunnally always seemed to find herself recently._

 _"What do you mean?" He asked, turning to gaze at Nunnally who was pensively gazing at the flowers in front of her._

 _"I mean, I know he did it to give the world a chance to recover and give us peace, even if it wouldn't last forever but...is it possible that he also did it because he'd given up? I mean...maybe the burden of his lies and everything he'd done had just become too much for him to bear."_

 _Nunnally turned to gaze at him with tears in his eyes. "And when he thought I was dead...I know that he did all of this for me so...when he thought he lost me, do you think that could've driven him to…?" She trailed off but he knew what she was thinking._

 _As he thought about it, he found himself wondering the same thing. Could Lelouch really have thought up the Zero Requiem because he'd given up? "I...hadn't thought of it that way," he admitted._

 _Nunnally reached out a hand and picked a single flower, an aster, and brought it to her nose. "...I don't know why I brought up such a depressing topic," she said and let out a long sigh. "I just...don't know why Big Brother thought this would make me happy. All I ever wanted was to be with him, consequences be damned, and..." She trailed off and he saw tears appear in her eyes._

 _"I think...he thought you were better off without him," he said._

 _"He was wrong!" Nunnally burst out, tears spilling out of her eyes. "How...How can I look to the future without him? How? Suzaku, how?!"_

 _He didn't have any answers for her. He didn't know how any more than she did. All he could do was offer some silent comfort as he listened to the young Empress-to-be sob for her lost big brother._

 **. . .**

 **Stage 11**

 **Truth**

Jeremiah's day had been pretty good so far.

At least, the other purists were leaving him alone and no longer questioning him about the 'orange' incident.

Villetta was also willing to hear him out and believed him when he said he didn't remember.

Neither of them was any closer to finding out just what happened to them to cause them both to have memory lapses nor were they closer to finding that student that Villetta had met in the Shinjuku Ghetto.

It didn't help that they had nothing to go on but it was a student.

"It took a lot of thinking but I think I recognize the uniform that the student was wearing," Villetta said thoughtfully, twirling her drink around before taking a sip. "It was black with gold trimming. I looked it up and it seemed that the male students at Ashford Academy wear that uniform."

"You think he might be an Ashford student?"

"It's possible."

"At least we have something more to go on," Jeremiah said, finishing his drinking before standing up.

"Leaving so soon?"

"I don't want to go to work tomorrow with a hangover."

"Do you need a lift?"

"I don't live far from here so I'll just walk."

"All right." Villetta went back to her drink and Jeremiah, after paying for his, walked out of the bar and headed down the street. He had his doubts about whether or not a student was actually behind Villetta's memory lapse, since he had no clue just how a student, of all people, could cause someone to experience memory loss without any injury to said person. And yet that was their only clue to go on in terms of solving the whole 'orange' incident. Jeremiah's reputation had taken a large hit with that incident and he wanted to redeem himself.

Then again, he had been attempting to redeem himself for years, ever since that day in which he failed to protect the woman who he had vowed to protect. Empress Marianne vi Britannia had been an amazing woman, an incredible knightmare pilot and Knight of the Round, and a patient, loving mother. While she had been a commoner, she was still one of the best Empresses in the empire. Perhaps Jeremiah was being biased on that, since he did love Marianne, but then it was obvious that Marianne was the favorite of all of Emperor Charles's consorts.

And then there were her children. Nunnally was a sweetheart while Lelouch had been incredibly clever. Jeremiah felt a pang of guilt at his inability to protect Marianne's children just as he hadn't been able to protect her.

He shook his head, pushing the guilty thoughts out of his mind as he rounded the corner. While he had told Villetta that he didn't live far, that was usually because Jeremiah usually took a shortcut through the abandoned area near the Saitama Ghetto. It wasn't as if anyone would mess with him. Disgraced or not, everyone knew that he could kill them easily.

This was the way he usually took back to his quarters and he wasn't expecting anything to happen, certainly not the explosion. Hand going to the gun he always kept with him just in case, though he had to remove it before entering the bar and retrieved it upon leaving, Jeremiah's gaze snapped toward the source.

One of the two-story buildings that was located across the street on which he was walking started collapsing, flames crawling up its side, smoke coiling into the sky, and debris flying in all directions. The building was like the rest of that area, abandoned, and yet Jeremiah had to wonder just what happened and what caused it to explode.

 _Could it be terrorists?_ Jeremiah thought as he ran across the street toward the building, even though a part of him told him that he should call for backup. He was about to pull out his phone to call for help when he heard someone shout within the building.

"Help! Anyone?"

Jeremiah actually recognized that voice. Was that Kururugi?

 _Now is as good a time as ever to repay my debt,_ Jeremiah thought once he got over his surprise at finding someone in a building that was currently on fire. He neared the door and grabbed the doorknob, only to find that it was locked. Knowing that the flames were probably spreading rapidly, he rammed his shoulder into the door a few times before it finally broke open.

Covering his mouth with the sleeve of his shirt, he darted into the room and gazed around. He noticed that the roof of the first floor had caved in and flames were crawling up the bannister of the stairs as well as the walls. Ratted curtains were on fire and debris covered the furniture at the center of the room. Partially buried in the fallen debris was Kururugi, crouched over another person, though Jeremiah couldn't make out just who he was crouched over.

He moved forward quickly, taking note of how fast the flames were spreading, and began removing as much of the debris as he could to allow Kururugi to move. "What happened here?" he asked, shoving a large piece of debris off Kururugi's back.

The Honorary Britannian sat back once he was clear and didn't answer. "My friend's hurt. We need to get him to the hospital… _cough_ …quickly," he said instead.

"I'm not… _cough_ …dying, Suzaku," his friend grunted from where he was laying on the ground, one of his arms was pinned beneath him and he, like Kururugi, was covered in bruises and scrapes.

Jeremiah stared in shock because Kururugi's companion looked a lot like…

"Margrave, please help me," Kururugi said.

Jeremiah tore his gaze away from the young man that bore an uncanny resemblance to a certain prince and nodded. With Kururugi's help, they managed to get the black-haired young man to his feet and quickly hurried out of the burning building, clearing it right before it collapsed completely.

Once they were across the street, Jeremiah let go of and studied them. They didn't seem to be badly hurt; the young man who looked like a certain prince, and Jeremiah was finding it hard to deny that it could possibly _be_ the prince that everyone thought was dead, had an injured arm, they were both covered in bruises and scrapes, Kururugi was favoring his left leg, and they were both coughing every now and then.

"Suzaku, your girlfriend's crazy," the black-haired boy said with a wry smile.

" _Lelouch! She's not my girlfriend!_ " Kururugi exclaimed and then erupted into a coughing fit.

 _Lelouch._ Jeremiah turned to the boy, Lelouch, who was stuck in his own coughing fit at the moment, and decided that he would question him later. Right now, they could both use a trip to the hospital.

 **. . .**

Some time passed before Lelouch and Suzaku were admitted into the nearest hospital. Though the staff hadn't been particularly thrilled with treating a Number, they did so most likely because Suzaku was an Honorary Britannian and because Margrave Jeremiah Gottwald had told them to. Suzaku explained to Lelouch that he had saved Jeremiah from being killed when the purists turned on him the day that Euphie arrived in Area 11 and Jeremiah was just repaying that debt.

Neither of them were severely injured. They were mostly being treated for smoke inhalation, severe bruising on Suzaku's leg and Lelouch's arm, and the several cuts and scrapes they'd obtained when the floor fell beneath them. They were lucky they hadn't broken anything.

They were released within a few hours once the doctor's determined that they hadn't inhaled enough smoke for it to be life-threatening. Jeremiah met them in the lobby, his gaze was fixed on Lelouch for a moment. Then he said, "It's late and the streets aren't exactly safe after dark. I've called for my car and I'll give you two a lift home."

Suzaku was sure that the only reason Jeremiah was being so generous was because he recognized Lelouch and likely wanted to talk to him. He said nothing though as he followed Jeremiah and Lelouch out of the hospital and toward where Jeremiah's limo was parked. His thoughts drifted to Bree and he frowned, wondering where the unstable Geass user had gone.

He had a bad feeling that this wouldn't be the last they would see of her.

The two climbed into the limo and Jeremiah, giving orders to the driver to take the long way back to Ashford Academy—which was where Lelouch told him that he was staying—climbed in as well. The limo started a few minute later and started driving down the street.

Jeremiah was gazing at Lelouch, the surprise was still evident in his orange eyes. "Your Highness? Prince Lelouch?" he said hesitantly as if he still wasn't completely sure just who he was speaking to.

"I haven't been addressed like that in so long but, yes, that's me," Lelouch mused, studying Jeremiah calmly. His words were pretty much used to confirm Jeremiah's suspicions. Suzaku wasn't surprised that Lelouch was letting Jeremiah know about him because Jeremiah was extremely loyal to the vi Britannia family, and to Lelouch during the time they were planning the Zero Requiem in the old timeline.

Jeremiah swallowed and then lowered his head. "Then I humbly beg your forgiveness, Your Highness," he said.

"Why?" Now Suzaku knew he was just playing along due to already knowing the reason why but not wanting to reveal just how he knew. It was doubtful that Jeremiah would believe him, especially not at this point in the timeline before he knew Geass existed and he got his Geass Canceller. As it was, Suzaku barely believed what Bree had done and he had been there to witness it himself. He honestly didn't think that what Bree did was even possible.

And, truthfully, he had to wonder just how that would affect the future. Would this make his own memories of the old timeline unreliable? Or was there still time before that would happen?

Suzaku just didn't know. He was sure of one thing though; Lelouch having his memories of the old timeline may seem like a good thing but Suzaku had a very sinking feeling that it was anything but.

Jeremiah swallowed, then said, "I was part of your mother's security detail and…I failed to protect her and you and your sister."

"It wasn't your fault," Lelouch said. "It was the fault of the bastards who killed her."

"If I hadn't left her…" Jeremiah began.

"Why did you leave her?" Lelouch interrupted.

Jeremiah hesitated. "We were ordered to do so by Princess Cornelia, who was in charge of your mother's security detail," he said.

"You were just following orders then. It wasn't your fault," Lelouch said, leaning back in his seat, though wincing as he did so. His arm was still bothering him, Suzaku realized.

"Still, I do apologize and ask your forgiveness," Jeremiah said.

Lelouch didn't respond for a long moment, studying Jeremiah. "Tell me, where does your loyalty truly lie? With my family or with the Emperor?"

"With your family," Jeremiah said without hesitation.

Lelouch looked satisfied but then he should have expected that answer. Suzaku already knew that would be his answer. He supposed his friend was just confirming whether that had changed in this timeline or not.

"Then I'll give you the chance to earn my forgiveness," Lelouch said.

"I'll do anything."

"Then all I ask of you right now is to not tell _anyone_ that Nunnally and I are still alive, not any of your comrades, not Cornelia, _no one_ ," Lelouch said firmly.

"But the royal family would be overjoyed in knowing you're alive," Jeremiah said.

Lelouch scoffed. "That is highly doubtful. Maybe two or three would actually be happy but no one else. Besides, haven't you ever wondered just _who_ killed my mother? They said it was terrorists but just how did a terrorist manage to get close enough to my mother to kill her? On that note, why did Cornelia withdraw my mother's security detail?"

Jeremiah frowned. "It wasn't that big of a surprise. Cornelia never said why, only that Empress Marianne asked her to withdraw the security detail but she would only do that…" he broke off as realization dawned on him.

"…if she was meeting with someone she explicitly trusted," Lelouch said with a nod. "It wasn't terrorists that killed my mother. It was someone who was _supposedly_ close to her. What do you think they would do if they found out Nunnally and I were still alive?"

Jeremiah closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Very well, Your Highness," he said, opening his eyes. "I understand why you don't want anyone to know about you and your sister, and I am happy that Princess Nunnally is still alive as well, and I won't tell anyone about your continued survival."

Lelouch nodded. "Thank you," he said.

"What about him?" Jeremiah nodded toward Suzaku. "Can he be trusted?"

"He was the first one to know about mine and Nunnally's heritage and has saved my life more times than I can count. I trust him with my life, Jeremiah," Lelouch said firmly.

"I understand, my prince."

"And please stop calling me that," Lelouch said.

"Very well."

 **. . .**

When Lelouch returned to Ashford Academy, it was to a worried Sayoko.

"Are you all right, Master Lelouch?" she asked.

"I'm fine. Just got caught up in a situation but I'm all right," Lelouch reassured her.

"Mistress Nunnally was worried, my lord," Sayoko said.

"I'll talk to her tomorrow," Lelouch said, not wanting to wake his little sister. "I'm going to bed now. Good night."

"Good night, my lord."

Lelouch walked down the hall and slipped into his room, thinking about the situation and sorting through the new memories that were mingling with the memories of what had already happened. He had to force himself to not think about the more tragic ones, reminding himself several times that Shirley and Euphie were still alive.

Pretty much everything up until that point had gone pretty much the same as in the old timeline, Saitama was the only exception. It was going to take him some time to get used to this though but he knew that these memories would come in handy. At least, he _thought_ that they would come in handy. He really didn't know for sure.

After all, he didn't know if any of these new memories would come true in the current timeline but, considering Shinjuku, Saitama and the Kawaguchi incident had happened, the chances of the other events happening was pretty high, even if he doubted they would go the same as they had in that other timeline.

They could, he supposed, but he doubted it, especially since he knew of what would happen and could make changes to insure that things didn't happen that way. Narita was coming up and that was where he would have to work to change things. There were too many causalities in the memory of the other timeline, which, Lelouch decided, he would start referring to the timeline those memories come from, and Lelouch didn't want so many causalities on his head. And he didn't have to worry about capturing Cornelia, unless it would win him the battle, since he already knew the truth about who murdered his mother.

And that his mother was just as bad as Emperor Charles but that was beside the point.

But one thing he couldn't get his mind off was another betrayal that would occur in the future. Suzaku's had been resolved when they were planning the Zero Requiem but the betrayal of the Black Knights was another story all together.

 _In those memories, they betrayed me because of my Geass as well as discovering that I was a Britannian and a prince, but mostly the former. If I want to prevent that from happening, I will have to trust them with the knowledge of my Geass and my identity,_ Lelouch thought and his mind went to Suzaku's words about how he couldn't expect his followers to trust him if he didn't trust them.

 _A true leader trusts his followers and never gives his followers a reason to distrust him._

 _He's right,_ Lelouch thought and began making plans for just how to reveal both his Geass and his identity to the Black Knights, preferably before Narita. While he didn't know how they would react, he was hoping that they wouldn't react the same way as they had in that other timeline.

On that note, he should probably call Ohgi back but he would do that later. It was already two in the morning and Lelouch doubted Ohgi was awake.

He entered his room to find C.C. glaring at him. Closing the door behind him, he said, "And what did I do to earn your anger this time, C.C.?"

"You nearly got yourself killed," C.C. said firmly.

"Not like it was my fault. Bree and her henchman took both Suzaku and I by surprise," Lelouch said.

"And that explosion?"

"I honestly don't know," Lelouch admitted. He had an idea of who was behind it, only because Bree had left only a few minutes before that and it seemed as if the explosion had been planned. "Look, I've had a long day and my day's going to be even longer tomorrow."

"Oh?" C.C. raised an eyebrow. "And why's that?"

"I'm telling the Black Knights about my Geass and my identity."

C.C. looked surprised for a moment before her face went back to being impassive. "Really? I would have thought you would take both of those secrets to the grave," she said.

"How can I expect my followers to trust me if I don't trust them?" Lelouch said nonchalantly as he moved over to his dresser, pulled out his pajamas, and disappeared into the bathroom, leaving his green-haired roommate to mull over those words.

The following morning, Lelouch had to reassure his little sister that he was all right while hugging her as he recalled the new memories of Nunnally from after he had become the Demon Emperor. _Yeah, getting used to these new memories is going to take a while,_ he thought.

Nunnally was understandably upset but calmed down once he told her about what happened, leaving out a few key details and amending the story so that he was only telling part of the truth.

"Why would she kidnap you and Suzaku though?" Nunnally said with a confused frown.

"I don't know. We got out of there though, thanks to Jeremiah. You might not remember him but he was a member of Mother's guard at Aries Villa," Lelouch said.

"I think I know who you're talking about but I'm not sure. Did he have orange eyes?"

"Yes."

"Then yeah, I remember him," Nunnally said with a small smile. "I'm glad that he helped you and Suzaku out. I don't know what I would've done without you." Tears appeared in her closed eyes and Lelouch, feeling a pang as he thought about how he had left her alone in order to fulfill the Zero Requiem according to those memories, wiped the tears away and hugged her.

"I'm not going anywhere, Nunnally, I promise," Lelouch said and prayed that he would be able to keep his promises to his little sister.

 **. . .**

Suzaku had expected Milly to get on their case once he and Lelouch entered the conference room within the Student Council Clubhouse but that wasn't the case. Though that was probably because the entire Student Council were too busy watching the TV where Princess Cornelia was addressing everyone.

"What's going on?" Lelouch asked.

Milly turned to them, a rare look of seriousness on her face. "There was a terrorist attack within the settlement near the Saitama Ghetto. Princess Cornelia thinks that the members of the Yamato Alliance who hadn't been killed during the attack on the Saitama Ghetto had been behind it," she said.

Lelouch and Suzaku turned to the screen to see that they were showing a shot of the very area in which the two of them had been the night before and the remnants of the building they had been in as well as the two buildings on either side of it.

 _So they're calling it a terrorist attack?_ Suzaku thought.

"This is horrible," Shirley whispered. "I'm so grateful no one was hurt."

"Yeah," Kallen murmured softly, studying Cornelia, whom the screen had turned back to, with narrowed eyes.

" _This terrorist attack will not go unpunished_ ," Cornelia said on the screen. " _I will do everything in my power to track down the remnants of the Yamato Alliance and destroy them for their cowardly act of terrorism._ "

The press conference ended and Milly turned off the television. "Well, we should get to work. You two,"—she rounded on Lelouch and Suzaku—"what happened to you? You were supposed to get those supplies."

"We'll go out and get them today. We do still have a few days before the festival anyway, Milly," Lelouch said calmly.

Milly huffed. "I guess that's true. Fine, fine. C'mon, let's get to work," she said and they started to work.

 _Well, at least she's not mad,_ Suzaku thought.

 **. . .**

Lelouch finally had time to call Ohgi back after the student council meeting. He went up to the roof of the academy to make the call, leaning against the railing and making sure no one was watching him. Except for Suzaku, who had followed him up and was now standing by him. He had only come up there because Lelouch had asked him to join him, still wanting an answer to his question about whether the Zero Requiem had worked or not in the other timeline. He would talk with Suzaku about his Geass later.

" _Zero?_ " Ohgi's voice said.

"Yes, you called?" Lelouch said, keeping his voice low.

" _Um, yeah. We have a bit of a situation_ ," Ohgi said.

"Oh? What kind of situation?"

Ohgi explained the matter with the letter that had been given to Satoru. " _The leader says that he wants his representative to meet with you or a representative of your choosing tonight at seven at what's left of the_ Crimson Haven _bar_ ," he said.

Lelouch pressed his lips together. "Why would this People United Against Britannia want to speak with me?" he wondered and then noticed Suzaku stiffen next to him. He glanced questioningly at his friend and was surprised to see a look of pure _hatred_ blazing in Suzaku's emerald green eyes. He has never seen such hatred in his friend's eyes before, even after he had killed Euphie in the other timeline. Insanity, yes, but not hatred.

" _I don't know, Zero_ ," Ohgi said, returning Lelouch's attention back to the call. He would talk to Suzaku about that sudden hatred later. " _What do you plan on doing?_ "

"I will let you know. I need to think about this matter and whether I want to ally myself with this P.U.A.B. or not. Do you have any information on them?" Lelouch asked.

" _Itsuki does_."

"Have him contact me as soon as he can," Lelouch said. "Also, did you see the press conference?"

" _We did. Hikari's furious that Cornelia's putting the blame for what happened on the remnants of the Yamato Alliance_ ," Ohgi said.

"Unfortunately, I believe Cornelia will take this matter into her own hands and may attempt to draw the remnants of the Yamato Alliance out. Have the residents of Saitama returned to their homes yet?"

" _Hold on_." Lelouch could hear Ohgi talking over his shoulder, then he said, " _Itsuki says that some families have returned to the Saitama Ghetto, Satoru's among them, but the rest haven't decided whether it is safe to return yet or not so are staying with relatives or in other ghettos, like around Osaka_."

"I would not put it past Cornelia to use the residents of the Saitama Ghetto who've returned in her quest to draw Itsuki and his companions out. She is smart enough to figure out that we evacuated Saitama but I have no doubt she has eyes on Saitama now that she has decided to put the blame for that attack on the Yamato Alliance."

" _Does this mean that Saitama is in danger again?_ "

"Likely so. Try to send some warnings to Saitama and see if you can convince the families that came back to evacuate again. I don't know when Cornelia is going to strike but I suspect it is going to be soon."

" _Understood, Zero_."

"Also, have everyone gather at Headquarters at five this afternoon. There is something important that I wish to discuss with all of you," Lelouch said.

" _All right, Zero,_ " Ohgi said and hung up. Lelouch hung up as well and turned his attention to Suzaku; with how hard he was glaring at the railing, Lelouch was honestly surprised it wasn't on fire.

"You know the People United Against Britannia.," Lelouch said. It wasn't a question but Suzaku still answered.

"Yes, I know them," he said. The sheer hatred in his voice still took Lelouch by surprise.

"Why do you hate them so much?" Lelouch asked.

Suzaku's hand clenched and then relaxed before he said, "You wanted to know if your plan worked in the old timeline, right?"

Lelouch blinked, not knowing what that had to do with it. "Yeah, did it?" he asked, deciding to just go with the seeming change of subject.

Suzaku shook his head. "No," he said, gritting his teeth. "It was supposed to work. Everyone was…not necessarily happy, but they were looking forward to the chance to rebuild and they were at peace. Everything was looking up, until Nunnally's coronation."

"The People United Against Britannia, the P.U.A.B., they struck during Nunnally's coronation," Suzaku went on. "The coronation was an open affair. Everyone who wanted to attend could and the P.U.A.B. were no exception. But they managed to sneak in their weapons, though it was unclear how that happened. I was the first one they gunned down; they probably figured that since I was Zero, I was the biggest threat. Gino and Anya fell next as did all the Black Knights and Cornelia and Schneizel as well. Then they turned their attention to everyone else."

Suzaku's eyes were icicles of hatred. "They killed everyone, Lelouch, and I mean _everyone_. They said that they were doing it because they believed that the family and anyone who supports that family was to be held responsible for the crimes of a single person, meaning they blamed the entire vi Britannia family and everyone who supported them for your actions. It was wrong but they didn't care and they took it out on everyone, not caring who lived and who died."

"They were organized, extremely organized; jamming our communications, launching an airstrike that was used as a diversion to draw the army away from the throne room, placing their own men on the outside to gun down anyone who tried to enter. It was clear that they had been planning this for a very long time."

Suzaku's eyes closed. "I watched it all but I couldn't do anything to help. I had been weakened by blood loss and could barely get to my feet, let alone fight back. I had to watch as the P.U.A.B. took out the remaining people I had left in my life."

"I used what little strength I had left to try and find some survivors afterward but there were none. It was hard walking among everyone but…it was even harder when I saw Nunnally…" Tears streamed from Suzaku's eyes as he opened them and gazed at Lelouch, who was white with horror and shock.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I…I promised you that I would take care of and protect Nunnally and I failed you. I'm sorry."

"What happened next?" Lelouch asked, trying to keep his voice even and his emotions under control, even if they were currently in turmoil and hatred that he had only ever felt towards the Emperor was starting to well up inside of him, this time directed at the P.U.A.B. Even if it hadn't happened yet, and even if there was a chance it wouldn't happen, they were still responsible for a lot of deaths, especially his little sister's.

Perhaps he was being irrational in blaming them for something that hadn't happened yet but, at the moment, Lelouch didn't care about being rational.

He also could hear the quiet agony in Suzaku's voice and could see the guilt in his eyes. Suzaku was carrying the guilt of not being able to stop this massacre from occurring on his shoulders, including not being able to protect Nunnally.

It was the sheer power of the emotion in Suzaku's voice and the haunted agony in his eyes that told Lelouch that he wasn't lying.

Suzaku could not fake that kind of emotion.

"I died and was brought to the World of C, given a chance to change things as well as my Geass, and then sent back in time," Suzaku said. He gritted his teeth. "I don't want that to happen again, Lelouch. They say the attack was because of what _you_ did as the Demon Emperor and that's why I'm thinking that if, maybe, we can find a way to create a peaceful, better future without going through with the Zero Requiem then that might work and stop what the P.U.A.B. did from happening."

Lelouch was silent for a long moment, processing everything his friend had just told him. "They weren't around when I was alive in the other timeline as far as those memories Bree gave me tell me anyway," he said.

"I had thought that they were a resistance that formed during your reign but that was until I discovered that they've existed in this timeline since before Shinjuku," Suzaku said, lips curving into a frown. "So I'm not entirely sure _when_ they formed in the old timeline."

"Mm."

"What do you plan on doing about that request?" Suzaku had apparently decided he had enough of reliving what happened after the Zero Requiem in the other timeline and decided to change the subject slightly.

"I'm going."

Suzaku stared in surprise. "But…"

"Oh, I have no intention of joining those bastards, Suzaku," Lelouch assured him calmly. "But I want to know more about them, and not what the media has to say about them. I trust you and I believe you. You wouldn't lie about something like this, and I always know when you're lying anyway, but I want to know, firsthand, just what they're like."

 **. . .**

Lelouch, clad in his Zero garb with his mask resting next to him, was relaxing in an armchair on the second floor of the Black Knights' headquarters. C.C. was there as well, watching him curiously but he ignored her, his thoughts on the P.U.A.B. and what Suzaku told him about what they did.

In the other timeline, his entire plan had been to create a peaceful, gentler world. It was a simple but effective plan. Yes, the peace would not have lasted forever, Lelouch wasn't expecting it to, but it should have given the world a chance to, at least, _start_ rebuilding. He wasn't expecting it to only last a week.

 _Why did the P.U.A.B. decide to blame Nunnally for what I did in_ _the other_ _timeline?_ He thought with a frown, tapping his fingers on the desk beside him. _She was innocent and everyone knew it. She shouldn't have been blamed._

"You seem in a thoughtful mood today," C.C. noted.

"Just thinking about my upcoming conversation with the Black Knights," Lelouch replied. He was telling the truth. Yes, he was thinking about what Suzaku had told him but he was also thinking about just how to tell the Black Knights the truth and how they would react. He hoped that if he explained everything then they would understand but he was keeping in mind that there might be some who wouldn't.

In that other timeline, Schneizel had used the fact that no one knew about Lelouch's Geass power, or his identity, to turn the Black Knights against him. He had basically twisted the truth just enough to get the Black Knights to lose their trust in him but Lelouch wasn't going to let that happen this time.

He did like the idea of getting one over Schneizel without his older half-brother even knowing it.

"Mm. So you plan on telling them who you are and about Geass?"

"Yes. They deserve to know. A true leader trusts his followers and never gives his followers a reason to distrust him," Lelouch said, subconsciously quoting Suzaku. He stood up when he noticed it was five and grabbed his helmet, slipping it on and ignoring the slight twinge of pain in his arm.

He made his way downstairs with C.C. trailing after him, the Cheese-kun plushie she had managed to get after the Kawaguchi incident held tightly in her arms. Looking around, he noticed that all of the Kozuki resistance as well as the four remaining members of the Yamato Alliance were standing there.

"So what's this about, Zero?" Tamaki asked.

"You said it was important on the phone," Ohgi said.

"It is," Lelouch said as C.C. slipped past them and took a seat on the couch. The group glanced briefly at her but, since she had started showing up to these meetings ever since Kawaguchi, they had gotten used to her sudden appearances.

"I have decided that if we are to proceed forward, we need to have a degree of trust between us," Lelouch went on. "I trust you. I would never have created the Black Knights with you if I didn't trust you at least a little. But I don't know if you trust me."

"Of course we trust you," Kallen said. "You haven't steered us wrong yet."

"On the train when we first spoke, Kallen," Lelouch said. "You said 'Hiding behind that mask, why should we even trust you?' and you're right. There are some things I have been keeping from you, and my true identity is one of them but there is another and I've called you here today because I want to share _both_ of these secrets with you."

The group exchanged glances with each other.

"All right. I'm willing to listen to whatever he's gotta say. He did save our lives in Shinjuku after all," Tamaki said.

"And saved all the civilians in Saitama," Masaki agreed.

"And stopped all those drug dealers," Kallen replied.

The rest of the group looked at each other and then nodded.

"All right, we'll hear you out, Zero," Ohgi said.

"As will we," Itsuki said after glancing at his three companions.

Lelouch nodded. "I will start by telling you about my power," he said.

"Your power?" Hikari repeated.

"Yes. It is the most complicated of my secrets and will probably take the longest to explain but you need to know and understand everything before you jump to any conclusions," Lelouch replied.

The group nodded.

"I suppose it would be best if I demonstrated first," Lelouch said.

"Demonstrate? What do you mean?" Tamaki said as loudly as ever.

Lelouch glanced at him and found himself smirking to himself. Letting a portion of his mask slide back, he activated his Geass and commanded, "Sit down and don't speak for the next fifteen minutes." A red ring appeared around Tamaki's irises and, immediately, his lips closed and he sat down, looking surprised.

There was a long moment of silence as everyone took in what just happened before Yoshida exclaimed, "Wow, you actually got him to shut up? I could kiss you!"

"Sorry, Yoshida, but I don't swing that way," Lelouch said, as the retractable portion returned the mask to normal, which elicited a small chuckle from the group.

"What was that though?" Ohgi said.

"It's my Geass," Lelouch explained. "There are several different kinds of Geass out there. Some allow a person to look into the future. Some allow a person to rewrite the memories of another,"—his voice darkened at that as he thought about the Emperor—"some can even freeze time. Mine is called Absolute Obedience. It allows me to command someone to do whatever I want them to do, even if it goes against their moral code or wouldn't be something they would do normally."

"B…But that's taking away someone's free will!" Hikari exclaimed.

"I know. This power is not a gift, it's a curse," Lelouch said gravely. "It's a dangerous power. It can cause someone to kill themselves or commit a full-scale massacre." Pain entered his voice as he thought about Euphie and what happened in the other timeline and he had to remind himself that it hadn't happened yet and, if he had anything to say about it, it would _never_ happen.

"But it can only be used on a person once," Lelouch went on, noticing the horror that was crawling into the eyes of the Black Knights around him. "And it can only work if I make direct eye contact. Visors, sunglasses, and my mask interferes with it."

"Did you use it on us?" Ohgi asked, keeping his voice level.

"No. Aside from Tamaki, I've used my Geass on only one other person here," Lelouch said. "But I did not command that person to be loyal to me. You chose to follow me of your own free will. I did nothing to interfere with that."

"How can we believe you?" Masaki asked.

"There is a side-effect that those who experience my Geass experience. They lose their memory of the time right before and during when I used my Geass on them," Lelouch explained, causing Kallen to frown, probably thinking about when he had used his Geass on her. He could practically see the wheels turning in her head and he wouldn't be surprised if she figured it out before he told everyone.

"And, besides, if I had used my Geass on you to be loyal to me, you would never have questioned me," Lelouch added. "No, I did not use, nor will I ever, use my Geass on any of you. I trust you, that is why I have revealed this to you, and I wanted you to understand the truth behind it."

"That's…that's a lot to take in," Itsuki said.

"How do we know you won't use it on us?" Inoue asked.

"There's a reason I gave you those visored helmets with your uniform. My Geass won't work on you if you have your eyes covered, by a visor or sunglasses or any other method. If you don't trust me not to use my Geass on you and don't believe me when I saw that I won't then you're free to take precautions. You are also free to leave the Black Knights if you wish. That is your decision. I will not force any of you to stay."

Lelouch had to admit he was partially surprised but mostly grateful when no one moved to leave.

"You saved our lives in Shinjuku and you've given us the chance to become something more than just a resistance group. You haven't done anything to warrant our distrust," Ohgi said.

The rest of the Kozuki resistance nodded in agreement with Ohgi's words.

"I agree," Itsuki said. "If it hadn't been for you, Zero, many innocent civilians would have been killed, my family and Satoru's family among them. And, besides, that power of yours could come in handy, especially against the Britannians! So long as you stick with your promise to not use that power on any of us, I'm willing to give ya chance."

"Just don't use that power on me or I'll kick your ass," Hikari threatened.

Lelouch chuckled. "Duly noted," he said.

"I think we should get on to the second matter you wanted to discuss," Kallen said, turning to glare at Lelouch.

 _Seems she put two and two together,_ Lelouch thought with a small smile. "If no one has any questions about my Geass, I suppose we should get on to the matter of my identity," he said. "I did say that I would tell you who I am but I want your word that you will listen to what I have to say before you make any rash judgments."

"Why would you say that? You think we're gonna get all mad at ya for revealing your identity to us?" Tamaki demanded loudly.

 _Damn, those fifteen minutes went by too quickly,_ Lelouch thought. He liked Tamaki but he did get annoying after a while.

"You might," he said. "Like I said, I just ask that you let me explain before reacting."

"I think we can do that," Itsuki said.

"Yeah, ya can't be that bad," Inoue said.

Satoru muttered something under his breath, too low for Lelouch to hear so he decided to ignore it for now.

"All right," he said and reached up for his mask. "I suppose this would be the best way to start." He gently removed the mask and could immediately hear the gasps of surprise that echoed around him, and one murmured, "I knew it," that he was sure was from Kallen.

"You're…You're…" Ohgi began.

" _Britannian!_ " Satoru hissed, looking like he was about to leap at Lelouch but Itsuki held him back.

"We agreed to let him explain," the former leader of the Yamato Alliance said firmly.

"Thank you, Itsuki," Lelouch said, placing the mask on the table, amethyst eyes scanning the group. "I suppose I should introduce myself and I don't plan on leaving anything out. The name that I go by is Lelouch Lamperouge but my birth name is Lelouch vi Britannia, former Eleventh Prince and seventeenth heir to the throne."

He was sure that everyone's jaw had dropped, even Kallen's. She may have figured out that Zero was Lelouch, her classmate, but no one but Milly and Suzaku knew of his royal heritage.

"Y…You're a prince!" Tamaki exclaimed.

" _Former_ prince," Lelouch corrected. "I gave up my claim to the throne over seven years ago."

"I think you should explain," Itsuki said with a frown.

Lelouch nodded. "Like any other child of the Emperor, my little sister Nunnally and I lived the privileged life. Of course, we weren't exactly on good terms with the majority of the rest of our family due to their contempt toward my mother who was a commoner. Still, we had a good life. But in late 2009, my mother was assassinated and Nunnally was hit by a stray bullet that crippled her. She also went blind, though not even the doctors know how that happened. They say it was psychological though."

"The investigation into my mother's death didn't yield any results and, after only a few days of investigating, the Emperor called a halt to it. Furious, I went before the Emperor and demanded to know why he would call off the investigation of my mother's murder and why he didn't even bother on seeing Nunnally anymore."

Lelouch's eyes hardened with anger. "He told me that he didn't care about Nunnally, seeing her as a weakling and Britannia is dedicated to the strong devouring the weak, and told me that I was dead to him, dead the moment I was born. He then exiled me and Nunnally to Japan where we were to be used as bargaining chips during the Sakuradite Crisis. We were little more than political hostages but the Kururugi family, with whom we had been placed, treated us nicely."

"Then, less than a year later, Britannia invaded and the home that I had lived in was bombed in one of the first airstrikes. Me, Nunnally, and Suzaku Kururugi, who is probably the only reason me and Nunnally managed to survive, managed to escape. I saw firsthand just what Britannia did to Japan. I lived through it, walked through it, and was extremely lucky to even survive in the warzone I was forced to walk through with my crippled sister and my best friend, who was only ten like me."

Lelouch closed his eyes. "The Emperor knew Nunnally and I were there but he didn't care. He didn't even bother on sending someone to retrieve us from Japan before he launched his invasion. He didn't care whether we lived or died then and I doubt he cares now." _Actually, I know he doesn't care now._ "He only ever saw Nunnally and I as tools, not as his actual children. He is one of the things that is wrong with Britannia."

Lelouch opened his eyes to gaze at the Black Knights who were watching him with a mixture of horror, shock, and anger, though not directed at him, in their eyes.

"You're fighting against Britannia because you want vengeance on your father, right?" Hikari asked finally.

"That is part of the reason," Lelouch admitted. "But I fight Britannia because I want to change the system, even if I have to destroy and rebuild it, especially the idea of the strong devouring the weak. Where does my little sister fit in that kind of society? It is not the people that I fight against, it's Britannia, her cruel tyranny, and her flawed system itself. Britannians and Numbers alike should be allowed the chance to choose their own futures and be able to live together in a peaceful, gentler world. And for that to happen, Britannia must fall."

Everyone was now staring at him with a mixture of awe and surprise in their eyes.

Ohgi then took a step forward, confidence crawling into his eyes. "That is a world I want to see and I will gladly stand by you and help to create that world for everyone. It doesn't matter who you are. If you want to create that kind of world then I want to help," he said firmly.

"As do I," Itsuki said, stepping forward. "I will help you bring peace to this world and put an end to Britannia and her cruel tyranny."

"Here, here," Masaki said.

Before long, everyone was chiming in with their own voiced support and Lelouch let a small smile cross his lips as he listened to the Black Knights, _his_ Black Knights, voice their support. Even after discovering his Geass and that he was an exiled Britannian Prince, they were still willing to stand by him.

C.C. watched from the shadows and smiled to herself. "It seems that there is much more to you than I had originally thought," she murmured to herself. "You are an enigma, Lelouch vi Britannia, but you are an interesting one. I think I did make the right choice in you as my contractor."

"So what do we call you know anyway?" Tamaki asked a couple of minutes later.

"Call me what you want in private. In public, I'm still Zero," Lelouch said.

"Then I'll call ya Lelouch," Tamaki decided with a grin.

"By the way, it's six. You never did tell us what you were planning on doing with that request from the P.U.A.B.," Ohgi said.

At the mention of that particular organization, Lelouch had to slip on a mask of cool impassiveness in order to prevent the Black Knights from seeing the hatred that simmered beneath the surface. He had finally gotten a chance to talk with Itsuki over the phone an hour before the meeting and had learned that the P.U.A.B. were just as bad as Suzaku made them out to be.

"We are not joining them," he said. "They are worse than Kusakabe and I refused to ally myself with him as well. We are knights for justice and we do not involve innocents in our battles as long as we can help it. I am going to this meeting for one reason only; to assess the P.U.A.B. and find out more about them."

"You're not going alone, are you?" Inoue asked.

"No. I'm planning on taking Kallen with me as well as anyone else who wishes to come with, though I suspect it would be best if we keep the group small," Lelouch said.

"I'll go," Tamaki said, jumping to his feet. "Ain't nobody gonna mess with ya while I'm there!"

"I'll go too," Satoru said, his face impassive.

Lelouch nodded.

"Can I speak with you first before we leave?" Kallen asked.

"Of course," Lelouch said, turning to the red-head who folded her arms across her chest.

"You used your Geass on me," she stated matter-of-factly.

"I did," Lelouch said with a nod. "I wanted answers and knew you wouldn't give them to me of your own free will. I do apologize for that though. I suppose, looking back, I could have handled that matter a bit better."

Kallen studied him, as if trying to see if he was being sincere, before she relaxed and unfolded her arms, nodding. "We should probably get going soon. The _Crimson Haven_ is near the Saitama Ghetto and that's a good half hour walk from here," she said and walked off to get ready for Zero's upcoming meeting with the representative of the P.U.A.B.

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Blaze: well, a lot happened in this chapter. Jeremiah knows Lelouch and Nunnally are alive. Lelouch knows about what happened after the Zero Requiem. The Black Knight's know Lelouch's identity and his Geass power. All that and more in only fifteen pages, not bad.**

 **Bakura: hmph, whatever, what happens in the next chapter?**

 **Blaze: the introduction of one of the key leaders of the P.U.A.B., some more development for Satoru and a little for Hikari, Itsuki, and Masaki (not as much as for Satoru) and other things**

 **Bakura: real helpful**

 **Blaze: I ain't gonna spoil the next chapter. We're almost done with the five-chapter non-canon arc though**

 **Bakura: it's next chapter and the one after that?**

 **Blaze: yup. Chapter 13 introduces two canon characters from R2 early and then we head off to Narita but that's then and this is now**

 **Suzaku: by the way, where's Lelouch?**

 **Lelouch: (outside, on top of a Solid Vision Raid Raptor – Revolution Falcon) _rain down hell, my giant metal birdie, ahahahahahahaha!_ (Continues to cackle insanely as Raid Raptor – Revolution Falcon fires bombs downward at Charles, V.V. and Luciano Bradley below)**

 **Charles and V.V.: (stares up at the bombs) fuck**

 **Luciano: _how the hell…?_**

 **- _Boom_ -**

 **Suzaku: (sweatdrops) who's brilliant idea was it to give Lelouch a duel disk with a Real Solid Vision System? (Looks straight at Blaze)**

 **Blaze: don't look at me. By the way, I don't own _Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Abridged_**

 **Suzaku: then who did?**

 **Jeremiah: (walks into the computer room) Blaze, my prince wants to know where he can get more cards for the duel disk I got him**

 **Suzaku: …why?**

 **Jeremiah: my prince asked me to**

 **Suzaku: (facepalms) why am I not surprised?**

 **Blaze: heeheehee. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this chapter, reviews, as always, are much appreciated and thank you for reading.**


	12. Stage 12: The Skirmish at Saitama

**Well, I did say that I would update this story before the 22nd and, look, I have succeeded in my mission! Hurray for me! Unfortunately, _Rise of the Black King_ will _not_ be updated before the 22nd since I'm still in the process of editing the next chapter and it's taking me a bit longer than I thought it would.**

 **Bakura: (rolls eyes) No. One. Cares. Get on with it**

 **You're a real buzz kill, you know that?**

 **Bakura: no fucking duh**

 **(Sighs) Anyway, here is the chapter in which my four OCs get (some) development, there's a battle, well, I guess the more appropriate terms is skirmish, we meet the second in command of the P.U.A.B., Cornelia finds out a secret, and we get a little bit of Schneizel's perspective. I like him…**

 **Lelouch: WHAT?!**

 **Suzaku: You do?**

 **Kallen: how can you like him?**

 **Gees, hold on and let me explain. He's one of those characters that you love to hate and he is a great villain. And I happen to like great villains. Why do you think I like Yami Bakura and Yami Marik?**

 **Kallen: I suppose that makes sense**

 **Anyway, whoops, I haven't even thanked my reviewers yet. So, yeah, let's get to that.**

 **Thank you to _Guest, Risembool Rnager8, matronium, TokusatsuLuv, Determined Savior, patrickthenobleman, MEleeSmasher,_ and _Shimmering-Sky_ for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are great.**

 **Here is chapter 12—the fourth of the five chapter non-canon arc—and I hope that you enjoy it. Reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

 **. . .**

 **. . .**

 _It was the day after Lelouch's funeral, after his talk with Nunnally, that he found out another truth._

 _Kallen had figured it out._

 _Due to the peace that had arisen following Lelouch's death, the Black Knights were cleared of all charges against them and Nunnally had told them that they could continue to operate as a private army so long as they didn't try to break the peace. And she had told Kallen that the red-haired_ Guren _pilot was welcomed within the palace at any time._

 _Hence why he suddenly found himself standing across from said red-haired pilot who was currently glaring at him. "You're not the real Zero," Kallen said flatly and then sighed, adding, "And I'm pretty sure I figured it out. Lelouch planned all of this, didn't he?"_

 _"All of what?" He asked calmly._

 _Kallen gave him an irritated look. "Becoming the Demon Emperor, the most hated man in the world, and then having you kill him in order to kill that hatred and give the world a chance to rebuild. It would be just like him to come up with a scheme like this," she said. "And I have a feeling I know who you really are, the way you moved that day proved it, am I right, Suzaku?"_

 _He smiled a little. "I really shouldn't be surprised you figured it out," he said._

 _"Why'd he do it?"_

 _"For the exact reason you mentioned."_

 _Kallen shook her head. "That moron!" She exclaimed. "Did he honestly think that getting someone to kill him would actually work? Even if the rest of the world was given the chance to rebuild, what about those close to him? What about Nunnally?!"_

 _He sighed softly. "I think he felt that Nunnally was better off without him. Actually, I think he felt that everyone was better off without him," he said._

 _Kallen looked furious at that but he could see unshed tears in her eyes that she hastily wiped away. "That moron and yet...he's not the only one." A few tears that she missed slid down her face as she gazed at him. "We drove him to this, didn't we? When...When the Black Knights betrayed him, I mean."_

 _He said nothing because he knew that the Black Knight's betrayal had been part of the reason why Lelouch had decided to go through with the Zero Requiem._

 _"He'd just lost his little sister, or thought he did anyway, and then we turned on him?" Angry tears slid down Kallen's face. "Fucking hell, why the hell did Tohdoh and Tamaki and all of them even_ listen _to Schneizel of all people! Why didn't they just talk to Lelouch? Why didn't they give him a chance to explain? Why didn't_ he _tell us the truth? Why did he have to lie to us to the very end? This could've been avoided if he'd just told us the truth that day; no, this wouldn't have happened had he decided to be upfront with us from the very beginning!"_

 _"I think that, at the very beginning, a part of him was worried of how you would react if you found out that you were being led by a Britannian prince, exiled or otherwise, with the ability to control one's mind once," he said._

 _"But if he'd just explained that..." Kallen broke off and wiped away the tears from her eyes. "Still, I still think that we're, at least, partially responsible for what happened."_

 _"He wouldn't have wanted you to blame yourself. He knew what he was doing when he created this plan," he said._

 _Kallen let out a bitter laugh. "I guess even when Lelouch is doing a selfless act to allow the world to rebuild, there's still a selfish motive behind it. Why am I not surprised?" she muttered before she turned around. "By the way, I just want you to know, Suzaku, that, in my eyes, you will_ never _be Zero and I will_ never _accept you as Zero."_

 _Without another word, the red-haired_ Guren _pilot left._

 _ **. . .**_

 **Stage 12**

 **The Skirmish at Saitama**

Kallen was able to keep a tight hold on her emotions the entire trek to the Saitama Ghetto. She had been as surprised as everyone else when they discovered that their leader was an exiled Britannian Prince but she could not deny that his hatred for Britannia was just as strong as their own. But she was angry that, other than Tamaki, she was the only one that Lelouch had used his Geass on, even if it was only to get answers to his questions.

She felt violated and Lelouch's apology only mollified her a little bit. He sounded sincere though and Kallen was willing to forgive him, even if she was still a bit angry, and she was thankful that he couldn't use his Geass on her again. She didn't know what exactly to think about the leader of the Black Knight's power, except knowing that he didn't seem to really care for it that much.

Not to mention the pain in his voice when he spoke about how he could command someone to kill themselves or start a full-scale massacre. She shivered. Having that kind of power at one's disposal…she found herself grateful that Lelouch was on their side.

Kallen closed her eyes as they paused in the middle of an alley. Despite the hardships that he had gone through, what with actually traveling through the warzone when Japan was invaded, he was still willing to fight back. He was strong, cunning, and pretty charismatic; in a way, he reminded her a bit of Naoto.

She smiled sadly as she opened her eyes as she thought about her brother. Naoto had been the one who created and led the resistance in the Shinjuku Ghetto for months before Britannia caught up with him in the weeks before the massacre. He was also clever and wanted to change things for the Japanese. While his hatred of Britannia was nowhere near as strong as Lelouch's, the one thing that they had in common was their desire to fight against Britannia itself in order to change things.

She missed her brother though and not a day went by that she didn't remember him. She had gotten over her grief over her brother's execution but she still had all her memories of when she and her brother were growing up. Her brother had been her foundation, a pillar to lean against, and he was always there for her, caring for her. When she lost him, it felt as if she had lost a part of her heart as well.

But his dream to free Japan was kept alive when Ohgi had taken control of the resistance and it was still being kept alive with the Black Knights and Lelouch's leadership as Zero. She found herself feeling confident; she felt that, with Lelouch on their side, they could win. They could succeed in liberating Japan.

She held on to that confidence as they slipped into the Saitama Ghetto, using the underground tunnels and the old subway tunnels. Lelouch, no _Zero_ while they weren't in the safety of headquarters, paused and turned to Satoru. "Where is the _Crimson Haven_?" he asked.

"This way," Satoru said, his voice was still impassive. Kallen knew that he was the most vehement when Zero was revealed to be a Britannian and she wondered just how badly Britannia had hurt him. Sure, they had done something to scar every member of the Black Knights one way or another, but Satoru's hatred seemed a lot stronger than the others.

Kallen didn't know much about the remnants of the Yamato Alliance. She knew that Hikari and Itsuki were strong Knightmare pilots, Hikari had a temper that could probably rival hers and could be rather arrogant, especially in her skills at a pilot. She didn't know much about Masaki, other than he seemed like the quiet, blend-in-to-the-background kind of guy that some people forget about and yet he was brilliant, especially when it came to technology and could hack into pretty much anything. He reminded Kallen a lot of Nina, except he wasn't nearly as shy as her. The only thing she knew about Satoru was that he had an older brother that had become an Honorary Britannian— _traitor_ —and that they hadn't parted on good terms. And he hated Britannia, possibly even as much as Lelouch did.

"Man, it's as bad as Shinjuku," Tamaki said quietly. At least he understood that he had to be quiet in order to not draw attention to them in case anyone of the returning families spotted them. "Except…"

"There aren't any graves or nothing like that," Kallen said.

"Yeah," Tamaki said. "Glad that we were able to get everyone out before Cornelia launched her attack but then, I think the only reason we were able to get everyone else was because Zero knew when Cornelia was attacking."

"How did he learn that?" Kallen asked.

"I dunno. He never said," Tamaki said.

The small group reached the remains of the _Crimson Haven_ Bar. The one-story building was barely standing with shattered windows and a door that was dangling off its hinges. It looked like the majority of the other buildings in the ghetto; many were in worse shape due to the recent attack.

Zero led the way into the abandoned building, quietly ordering Satoru to remain out of sight by the door. Satoru nodded curtly and took up a position next to the door, his eyes peering out the shattered window but he was out of sight. Tamaki and Kallen followed after Zero as he headed deeper into the room.

"Cautious, I see," a female voice said and a lithe figure walked toward them from the darkened corner of the room into the shallow light that drifted in from the dying sun's rays. She was about as tall as Zero with long, wavy magenta hair that cascaded down her back and over her shoulders. She looked to be about nineteen and was dressed in a blood-red trimmed gray uniform. Her dark eyes fixed on Zero.

"But that is to be expected, considering you are probably the most wanted person in Japan, if not the entire Empire, at the moment," the woman added. She gestured toward the door behind her. "Come, we'll speak in there to avoid being seen. Your companions may come with you if you want but I don't plan on harming you. I am here on orders from my Lord."

 _She sounds like she's talking about royalty or nobility. Just who is the leader of the P.U.A.B?_ Kallen wondered as she followed Zero toward the room with Tamaki next to her. Satoru darted after them before taking up a position next to the door once inside the small room. All of them had their weapons on them but they were holstered, ready to be drawn should things go south. Even if the woman said she wouldn't harm them, it never hurt to be cautious.

Inside the room, there was a small table with two chairs placed across from each other and a lamp resting at the table's center. The woman took a seat in one chair and gestured for Zero to take the other one.

Zero sat down gracefully like the prince Kallen knew him to be. "Before we begin, might I know who I am speaking with?" he said, his voice level.

"I am Lilith Gale, Second-in-Command of the People United Against Britannia," the woman said, folding her hands in front of her. A wry smile crossed her lips as she asked, "I assume that if I asked you to remove your mask, you would refuse, yes?"

"You would be correct," Zero said calmly.

"Well, I suppose I tried. I guess you'll just have to remain a mystery. Lord Viktor didn't think you would agree anyway. So let's just get started with the discussion. My Lord feels that you can benefit from joining up with him. He has the same goal that you have, albeit on a larger scale. He does not seek to liberate just Japan but all the areas that are under Britannia's control at the moment."

"How does he plan on doing that?"

Lilith smiled and shook her head. "I am not about to reveal my Lord's plans with you until we come to some sort of agreement," she said.

"What do you have to offer, Lilith?" Zero asked.

"Resources and information. We may not have access to knightmares but we can get you weapons and we have recently taking over a science lab in Area 5 where we are in the process of developing new kinds of weapons to be used against Britannia," Lilith said.

"And what would your leader want from me and the Black Knights?"

"Your aid. The Black Knights have been garnering support throughout all of Area 11 and having such a support base would make it easier for us to launch our campaign to free Japan, which I know you are working towards anyway," Lilith said.

"And how do you suppose you are going to free Japan?" Zero asked.

"My Lord is coming up with a plan as we speak but since we were driven out of Area 8, we haven't had much time to come up with one. My Lord believes that you can help us with that," Lilith said.

It seemed to Kallen that they weren't getting very far in this conversation. She shifted a little as Zero and Lilith continued to talk, going from the nonexistent plan to liberate Japan to the resources and information that the P.U.A.B. could provide and then finally drifted to the past actions of the P.U.A.B.

When Zero brought up the bombing of the school in Area Four, Kallen could barely suppress her disgust when Lilith waved her hand dismissively and said, "They died for the greater good and, besides, they were mostly Britannians."

"Including the children?" Zero asked. Kallen had to admit she was impressed that Zero could keep his anger out of his voice, despite the fact that she could see his hand clenching under the table. Then again, she supposed that was another reason why he wore the mask.

"They're Britannian children. Who cares about them? They're just as bad as their parents," Lilith said, not one shred of remorse in her voice.

That feeling of disgust welled up inside Kallen again. While she may not like most Britannians, she just couldn't find it in herself to think so callously about innocent children. She didn't hate Britannians and certainly didn't want them all to die. There were good Britannians out there: Lelouch, the student council, Nunnally.

And yet this woman spoke so callously of them, as if they were nothing more than ants that were stepped on simply because they couldn't get out of the way fast enough. She didn't even feel a drop of remorse for their deaths.

The longer Kallen remained in this room with Lilith, the more she was convinced that Lilith was a sociopath.

"And the hospitals in Area 8?" Zero asked.

"Get the Viceroy of Area 8's attention," Lilith said with a shrug. "Shame he wasn't in the Viceroy's Palace when we attacked that but I told the idiots in charge of that attack that we should have attacked the palace _first_ and then the hospital. Then we could have killed off the Viceroy and sent a message to Britannia all at the same time. Fools." She scoffed.

 _Lelouch was right. They really are worse than Kusakabe. Why are they doing this?_ Kallen thought, trying to hide her frown. She was thankful that her visor kept her eyes hidden so that if Lilith happened to look up, she wouldn't see the disbelief and disgust in her eyes.

Zero seemed about to say something when, suddenly, his phone rang. He glanced at it and back at Lilith. "Excuse me a moment," he said, pulling out his phone and answering the call. "Zero."

There was a moment of silence and Zero stiffened. "She's _what?_ "

Another moment of silence.

"When?" Zero asked urgently. Another moment. "Where?" Another moment. "How does she know they've come back?" Another moment. "I see. I suspected as much." Another moment. "All right." Zero hung up and shoved the phone into his pocket before standing up.

"We will have to cut this conversation short. We've got a problem. My informant has just informed me that Viceroy Cornelia is putting her plan to draw out the remnants of the Yamato Alliance into action in one hour," Zero said and turned to Kallen. "Q1, contact N1 and inform him to head over here. We are going to need all the help we can get. We don't have much time to come up with an actual plan though."

"What's going to happen?" Satoru asked.

"Cornelia knows that some of the families who had been evacuated from Saitama last time have returned. She's planning on rounding them up and publicly executing them. She believes that if she threatens to do that, she will draw the remnants of the Yamato Alliance out."

Though she couldn't see his eyes, Kallen was sure Satoru was in shock. His hands clenched into fists. "Zero, please let me go warn my family," he said.

"I don't see why. Just let Cornelia do what she pleases and don't walk into her trap," Lilith said with a shrug as if that was the obvious solution.

Zero ignored her. "Cornelia will be expecting that, P3," he said.

"So we're going to do nothing?!"

"I never said that. The executions are going to take place in the plaza at the heart of the ghetto in about an hour. That's what my informant said. Cornelia will be expecting the remnants of the Yamato Alliance to attack, she will not be expecting the Black Knights…" Zero trailed off and Kallen wondered just what was going on in his mind.

"Your parents will be safe, P3. I have an idea that just might work. I will explain my idea when everyone shows up," Zero said. He turned to Lilith and added, "Our discussion is over, Lilith. Tell your leader that I respectfully decline his offer of an alliance."

"Why?" Lilith demanded, standing up. "You could use our support, resources, and information!"

"I have no doubt that we can but I do not approve of your methods and neither will the Black Knights. We are knights for justice and what you do is not justice, it's senseless murder. Q1, P3, P4, let's go," Zero said and swept out of the room dramatically. Kallen and Tamaki immediately fell into step behind him.

 **. . .**

Lilith watched Zero and two of his companions leave with a small frown on her face. She hadn't expected Zero to reject her big brother's offer, nor did she expect him to completely denounce the P.U.A.B's methods. _Doesn't he realize that our way is the only way we can liberate all the areas quickly and decisively? Zero is a fool. He still hasn't come to understand that the ends justify the means and that even if people die, they will die for a greater good._

She shook her head and her eyes landed on Satoru who was starting toward the door. Unlike the others, who had stiffened upon the mention of the bombing of the school and hospital and Lilith's response to that, Satoru hadn't. He was different from the others. He didn't seem to abhor the methods that the P.U.A.B. utilized, at least what was the impression she got due to his lack of reaction.

Perhaps he was just more naïve than they had originally thought.

The P.U.A.B. had been keeping their eyes on the resistances that were popping up in Area 11 and had done extensive information searches about them. While they were unable to find much on the resistance in the Shinjuku Ghetto, except that their former leader was named Naoto and had been killed a few weeks before the Shinjuku Massacre, they had found out a lot more about the Yamato Alliance.

Satoru seemed like the ideal person to leave their invitation with since he was incredibly naïve. At first, the P.U.A.B. had wanted to offer their help to the Yamato Alliance but, after discovering that the Yamato Alliance had joined forces with the Black Knights, they had changed their mind and decided to extend a hand to the Black Knights instead. Satoru was still their first choice to give the invitation too.

And she felt that he was the best person to talk to right now, mostly because she wanted to know if her first impression on him was correct or not. And if he agreed with Zero's assessment about their methods. The other two seemed to agree with Zero; the girl's posture suggested she was particularly disgusted by Lilith's indifference toward the deaths the P.U.A.B. had caused. Pathetic. They would never survive in the coming war if they continued to think of the civilians caught in the crossfire as _people_ rather than sacrifices to achieve a greater good.

She moved to Satoru's side and placed a hand on his arm, stopping him when he started to go after his comrades. He glanced at her. "Yeah?" he said.

Lilith held out a hand and slipped a small card with her number on it into Satoru's hand. "In case Zero changes his mind, he can contact us at this number," she said. "Also, keep in mind that we are always looking for new recruits."

"Um, okay, but why are you giving this to me?" Satoru asked confused.

"You are less likely to just throw it away. You don't agree with Zero, do you?" Lilith asked casually.

"I do, um, to an extent. I mean, I don't like the idea of killing innocents who just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time but, on the other hand, they are Britannians…" Satoru trailed off.

"P3, are you coming?" The one Zero called P4 shouted into the back room.

"Be right there," Satoru called back and started out the door while Lilith watched him go, a small smile on her lips. He may not completely accept the P.U.A.B's methods but he seemed closer to accepting them than Zero or those other two.

She would have to keep her eyes on him. He may prove useful later.

 **. . .**

Lelouch examined the Black Knights that were gathered in front of him in the decrepit living room of the abandoned building they had all agreed to meet up in. This was going to be a difficult battle, especially since they didn't have very much to go on. They had knightmares only because Itsuki had called in a few favors owed to him by a resistance group located around Osaka. The knightmares had only just arrived the day before and were kept hidden in the subway tunnel in Saitama where Itsuki, his three companions, and a few members of the Black Knights had piloted them into.

Still, while they were only Glasgows, and battered ones at that, they would work, even if it was unlikely they would survive the upcoming battle. At least they would give the group a fighting chance. Granted, they would be just decoys and used to draw Cornelia's forces to the designated place.

It was a shame that the bridge had already been destroyed but that didn't mean that some other places in this ghetto couldn't still be used against Cornelia's forces. The many abandoned buildings, for example, and the underground tunnels…

"We don't have much time," Lelouch began, looking around at the group gathered in front of him. "Cornelia is likely already on her way here. Our primary objective is the rescue of the innocents that Cornelia is going to try to use to draw the remnants of the Yamato Alliance out. The plan is as follows."

He outlined the plan and watched as the group looked at each other before Hikari raised a hand. "I think I know of a good place you can lure Cornelia's forces too," she said.

"Are you thinking about…?" Itsuki began.

"I am," Hikari said with a nod. "Not many people know about it but the area would be perfect for an ambush. It's on the edge of the ghetto, above one of the underground tunnels, and no one lives there."

Lelouch pressed his lips together in thought and nodded. "That would be the ideal place to launch our ambush," he said. "Very well. For now, I need four volunteers. If Cornelia has done her research or just studied the last battle then it's likely she will figure out that there are only four surviving members of the Yamato Alliance. That is all that we will use to lure Cornelia away from the civilians."

Itsuki glanced at his companions who nodded and he turned to Zero. "Since they're after our families, we'll lure them away from them. She wants us to walk into her trap so we will," he said.

"Very well," Lelouch said and turned to the rest of the group, giving out his orders for them as well. "Also, while I am unsure whether Cornelia will or not, it is possible that she may launch that white knightmare frame from Shinjuku."

"If it does show up, I'll handle it. I've got unfinished business with its pilot anyway," Kallen said. Lelouch knew that she was still fuming at the fact that she had been forced to retreat during her battle against Suzaku when it was clear she was losing. The only thing that prevented her from losing completely was the ceasefire that Clovis had been forced to call.

That and Suzaku wasn't trying to actually harm her.

"Keep him away from where we're luring Cornelia's forces," Lelouch said. "I don't want that white knightmare damaged. If we could capture it then it would be a powerful weapon on our side, especially if I can convince the pilot to join us."

"Would you use your Geass on the pilot?" Ohgi asked.

"Possibly," Lelouch said. The truth was he wouldn't. He didn't want to Geass his best friend again but he knew that if things did go as they did in the other timeline, and Shikine Island happened as it had then, then he might have no other choice. "But I hope I can show him just how wrong Britannia is. After all, I remember at Shinjuku, he went out of his way to avoid killing anyone."

"I doubt it'll work, since it's a Britannian we're dealing with," Satoru said.

 _Oh how wrong you are,_ Lelouch thought. He wondered just how they would react to learning that the pilot of the knightmare frame that was probably one of the greatest and most powerful knightmare frames in the world, with the other ones like the _Shinkiro_ , the _Guren,_ and a couple of others that haven't been invented yet anyway, was piloted by a Number.

"Still, it would be a valuable asset to our cause. Now then, we have little time to get into position."

 **. . .**

It was dark outside but Cornelia barely noticed as she had set up lights in the plaza. At the moment, her Royal Guard was guiding the residents of the Saitama Ghetto that had returned into the plaza's center. Men, women, and children grouped together, their eyes wide with fright as they stared at the Britannians that surrounded them. Cornelia knew that this would draw out the remnants of the Yamato Alliance simply because of how they acted in evacuating the civilians during the first battle. They proved that they cared for the residents of Saitama and Cornelia was going to use that against them to finish the job she started in the last battle.

"Everyone has been gathered, Your Highness," Guilford reported, moving his Gloucester to stand by Cornelia's. All around her, along with her knight, were her Royal Guard. She suspected she wouldn't need more than that simply because she knew that the Yamato Alliance had been reduced to very few members. And there was no evidence to suggest that they were, in any way, part of the Black Knights.

She did have Earl Asplund's _Lancelot_ on standby just in case though. She may not like that a Number was piloting it but she couldn't deny that he was good, from the footage Apslund had shown her of the _Lancelot_ fighting at Shinjuku and saw just how well Warrant Officer Kururugi synched with the seventh-generation knightmare frame. Still, it would be used as a last resort.

"Good," she replied and activated her speakers to speak to the Numbers gathered in front of her. "You have all been convicted of treason for hiding the terrorist cell known as the Yamato Alliance. You are to be executed for your crime."

There were protests and many of them were that they didn't even know the Yamato Alliance's base was in the Saitama Ghetto until the last battle. She ignored them as she raised her hand, ready to order her Royal Guard to fire when a series of multiple bullets suddenly crashed into the side of one of her Royal Guards.

She whirled around just in time to see four battered Glasgow's standing on top of one of the shorter buildings around the plaza. "The Yamato Alliance!" she hissed.

" _You wanted us, you Britannian bitch, you got us!_ " A female voice shouted from one of the Glasgows before unleashing another barrage of bullets.

Cornelia's lips twisted into a satisfied smirk. _So you've fallen into my trap,_ she thought. "After them," she ordered. "Take them out!"

"And the Numbers?" Darlton asked.

"Leave them. They're done their jobs," Cornelia said firmly and the Royal Guard immediately headed in the direction that the Yamato Alliance members had taken off in. The Yamato Alliance had been quick to fight back when Cornelia attempted to recreate what happened at Shinjuku and that was why she knew that they would intervene now. Saitama was were their base was located so Cornelia was sure that they had family or friends among the residents who returned.

Unfortunately, due to the lack of information on any members of the Yamato Alliance, Cornelia couldn't use their families or friends against them. She wasn't bloodthirsty enough to repeat what Clovis did for no reason; the last time she had attempted to do that, she had a reason. Her reason was simply to draw out Zero, and even if she won that battle, Zero never showed.

Cornelia always did something for a reason. Taking out the terrorist organization in Area 11 was done for a reason, attempting to recreate the Shinjuku Massacre had been for a reason. And that was the only reason why she left those Numbers alive; she had no reason to kill them this time.

But the remnants of the Yamato Alliance…

 _You will be defeated and then I will be going after you, Zero, and your Black Knights,_ she thought as she propelled her Gloucester faster after the remnants of the Yamato Alliance that were firing at her even as they tried to gain some distance away from her and her men.

 **. . .**

Kallen peered out of the shattered window and then turned to Zero. "They're gone," she reported.

"Then let's move," Zero said calmly, turning to the rest of the group, which consisted of Kallen, Inoue, Yoshida, and Minami. "We won't have long to get the civilians into the escape route that was set up." The escape route was pretty much just the entrance into the sewers that led to another underground tunnel that would take them back out of the ghetto.

"Then let's get to it," Minami said.

They left the room and hurried over to the civilians. Convincing them to leave was pretty hard, especially since they were recognized as the Black Knights but, eventually, the civilians realized that they were still in danger since there _was_ another battle going on and they agreed to head to the escape route. It took about twenty minutes and Kallen had to wonder why Zero didn't just Geass all of them into leaving.

When she asked him about that quietly as they made their way over to where they had hidden the Glasgows they would be using for the ambush, he shrugged. "I am trying not to use it too often. If it is used too often, I will lose control of it and if that happens…" He trailed off but Kallen again heard the pain in his voice and watched as he rested his hand on his mask as one would hold their head when it started hurting.

She studied Zero for a long moment but decided not to push. It was obvious something had happened but it was also obvious that he didn't want to talk about it.

They reached where the Glasgows were parked and immediately climbed into them. Kallen familiarized herself with the controls as Zero contacted them. " _They should have arrived at the rendezvous point by now_ ," he said.

" _Let's hope the others are on time then_ ," Inoue said as they moved out of the abandoned warehouse and headed toward the outskirts of the Saitama Ghetto.

 **. . .**

"Whoever is Itsuki's contact sure did hook us up," Tamaki said brightly, tossing one of the mines they were to set-up up and down.

"Don't drop it," Sugiyama said flatly.

"I ain't gonna drop it," Tamaki retorted. As if to prove his point, he tossed it up again and caught it before fitting it into the crevice in the wall that Ohgi had just dug out. "See?"

Sugiyama rolled his eyes, fitting his own mine into place. "This side's done," he said.

"So's this one," Tamaki said after inserting another mine into place. "Ya sure that this ain't gonna take out our own forces?"

"Zero told me to mark where the mines begin and end in all directions. So long as everyone's beyond where the ending mark is placed, they'll be fine," Ohgi said. "Let's get our other weapons and head back to the surface. They should be here by now."

Sugiyama and Tamaki nodded and followed Ohgi toward the entrance to the tunnels.

 **. . .**

"They're catching up," Hikari called, unleashing another barrage of bullets at the approaching Gloucesters. "But they aren't in range for Slash Harkens yet."

" _Just keep moving_ ," Itsuki called, moving to the side to avoid another barrage of bullets from Cornelia's Royal Guard. " _We're almost at the rendezvous_."

" _We're here_ ," Satoru called, weaving around a fallen slab of stone and gliding past the marker that Zero had informed them was where the detonation field started. He sped across the field and whirled around once he passed the marker indicating where the field ended and Hikari, Itsuki, and Masaki were quick to join him.

The Gloucesters glided onto the field and Cornelia's voice echoed around them. " _So you decided to die fighting rather than running away like cowards?_ "

"You did not just call me a coward, you Britannian bitch!" Hikari snarled, tightening her grip on her controls and resisting the urge to use her assault rifle again.

" _Attack at will_ ," Itsuki ordered, yanking his assault rifle out and opening fire on the Gloucesters, though the bullets didn't do much if any damage to the Gloucesters' frame. Masaki, Satoru, and Hikari were quick to join into their assault, though they refrained from using their Slash Harkens at the moment. They focused on remaining on the other side of the ending marker.

The Gloucesters tried to come forward, only to be forced to stop and sped backwards when a couple of grenades were launched in their direction, coming from behind where the remnants of the Yamato Alliance were stationed.

" _Looks like Ohgi's group's done_ ," Masaki mused.

Itsuki activated his comm. " _Green light, I repeat, you have the green light_ ," he said firmly.

" _Acknowledged_ ," Zero's voice echoed over the channel that the four of them were connected to. " _Remain in position but keep the Goddess and her lackeys in position._ "

" _Yes sir_ ," Itsuki said and quickly dodged out of the way to avoid a Slash Harken that flew at him from one of the Gloucesters. Hikari scowled and fired her own, slamming into the second slash harken right when it was fired at Itsuki again, sending it off course. She then unleashed another barrage of bullets from her assault rifle.

Another grenade was sent flying at the Gloucesters, forcing them to quickly back up to avoid getting struck.

" _They're getting too close to the start marker_ ," Masaki said quickly.

" _Zero and the others should be arriving any minute now_ ," Satoru said.

Sure enough, right when the Gloucesters had reached the start marker, still avoiding the grenades being launched at them, five Glasgows appeared on the buildings behind them and then launched themselves into the battle, forcing the Gloucesters forward again and then spread out.

Cornelia and the Royal Guard were surrounded.

Hikari grinned. _Well, well, it looks like you're gonna be handed your first loss, bitch,_ she thought.

 **. . .**

Cornelia stared. _How the hell did this happen?_ She thought angrily. She and her Royal Guard were surrounded, by nine Glasgows and whoever was firing grenades at them to keep them in one spot.

Wait…

Cornelia swore. "We need to move now! They've lured us into a…"

 **. . .**

Lelouch laughed from within his own Glasgow as he raised the detonation switch and activated it. The mines went off and the ground caved in beneath the Royal Guard, sending them tumbling into each other and conjuring up a large cloud of dust. Only Cornelia and her knight were able to remain upright. "With this, I call Checkmate, my dear sister," he murmured.

 **. . .**

"It's like what happened at Shinjuku," Jeremiah realized, staring at the caved-in tunnels filled with the heavily damaged knightmares and the Royal Guard who were likely badly injured, if they were still alive. Jeremiah remembered when something similar had happened at Shinjuku, when a collapsing tunnel had taken out a whole squad of Clovis's forces.

He gritted his teeth. He wanted to help but he knew that he couldn't. He had been ordered to remain behind, something that made Kewell and the other purists angry with him again. He wanted to defeat these terrorists for two reasons, to redeem himself and to protect his prince and princess.

Lelouch and Nunnally.

It was still amazing to know that they were alive and well and have been that way for the past seven years. Jeremiah had almost given up hope of ever finding them but he clung on to the hope that the children of Marianne vi Britannia were okay. He didn't want to live with the knowledge that he had failed again.

But, no, he hadn't failed. They were still alive and Jeremiah was going to do everything in his power to ensure that they remained that way.

" _Any word on Cornelia and the Royal Guard?_ " Kewell demanded. " _Any orders?_ "

" _Nothing. Their communications were probably damaged_ ," Villetta reported.

Kewell swore. " _We should be there, helping them, if not for Orange here_ ," he growled.

Jeremiah scowled at the reminder.

" _Attention, this is Viceroy Cornelia li Britannia. All forces to point F-8. I repeat, all forces to point F-8_."

" _Yes, we finally get some action_ ," Kewell boasted, activating his Sutherland, Jeremiah, Villetta, and the rest of the purist faction followed suit and they headed toward the designated point.

 **. . .**

" _Sir, reinforcements are on their way_ ," Sugiyama reported through the channel from his vantage point on one of the roofs that he had taken after his part of the mission was over. Ohgi and Tamaki were busy with the firing of grenades from the grenade launchers that Itsuki had managed to get at the Britannians.

"I expected as much. Is the white knightmare among them?" Lelouch asked idly.

" _No…wait, I see it. It's following the purist factio_ n," Sugiyama said.

 _The purists. Cornelia must be desperate if she's calling upon the purists after they've been disgraced,_ Lelouch thought and smirked to himself. "Q1, I'll leave you to focus on the white knightmare frame."

" _You got it!_ " Kallen said.

"P4, N1, I need you to make sure the reinforcements can't intervene but don't kill them," Lelouch said firmly. He didn't want to lose Jeremiah; he had been a valuable asset in that other timeline and he would be a valuable asset now. He was also someone from Lelouch's life as a prince that he still liked; Cornelia, Euphie, and, to a lesser extent, Schneizel were the others.

" _Yes, Zero,_ " Ohgi and Tamaki stated.

Just then, the _Lancelot,_ having overtaken the purist faction—it was much faster than their Sutherlands—launched itself into the clearing. As soon as it was clear of the street it came from, missiles— _they must have run out of grenades and had to switch to the missile launchers. Hmm, I should keep in mind just who supplies Itsuki with his resources,_ Lelouch mused thoughtfully—sailed past his shoulder to slam into the buildings, causing them to collapse and barring the purist faction's entrance into the fight.

Lelouch smirked. _Looks like your reinforcements are in a bit of a predicament, dear sister,_ he thought.

 **. . .**

Suzaku had been surprised when Lloyd told him that Cornelia wanted him to launch but he had been quick to do so. He was always quick to follow orders. After launching, he had also easily bypassed the purist faction, the _Lancelot_ was faster than them, but then he was met with a battered Glasgow almost as soon as he arrived in the area.

He quickly took into account the situation. Somehow, the ground had caved in, taking out the majority of Cornelia's Royal Guard, and Cornelia and the surviving members of her Royal Guard were surrounded. Then he saw the missiles that took out the buildings, creating a barricade that prevented anyone else from entering the battle.

 _Not a bad plan, Lelouch,_ Suzaku thought and dodged out of the way to avoid the Slash Harken the Glasgow, he was sure it was piloted by Kallen, aimed at him. Taking advantage of his swifter knightmare frame and his Blaze Luminous, as well as the MVSs, Suzaku launched himself at the Glasgow.

Despite having the more advanced knightmare frame, Suzaku was still pretty evenly matched with Kallen. She stayed out of the way of his MVSs and used her Slash Harkens to avoid his. He was able to get close enough to crash a spin kick into her factsphere but she retaliated by lodging a Slash Harken into his elbow joint and yanking.

Suzaku slashed through the cord of the Slash Harken with his MVS before he could be yanked off his feet and dove toward Kallen, forcing her to quickly dance out of the way and pulling out her stun tonfas, which caught the MVS. It didn't hold them back for long, since the MVS were designed to cut through pretty much anything, but it did give Kallen enough time to launch another Slash Harken that crashed into the ground but then she glided quickly to the side.

Suzaku realized instantly what she was doing and quickly danced backwards to avoid being tripped. Kallen retracted her remaining Slash Harken and launched it again at Suzaku who caught it with one of his MVSs. When she retracted it before it could be destroyed, he quickly activated his Blaze Luminous to catch the barrage of bullets from Kallen's assault rifle.

"You're as good as ever, Kallen," Suzaku murmured, gliding off to the side and Kallen was quick to follow him as the two of them continued their fight.

 **. . .**

Cornelia hated the current predicament she was in.

Her reinforcements were either stuck behind a wall of rubble and fire or caught up in a one-on-one fight against one of the terrorist's Glasgows, the majority of her Royal Guard were trapped beneath the rubble of the caved-in tunnel—and she didn't know if they were even alive—and she was out numbered.

 _Just where did the Yamato Alliance get allies? Or did more escape the last battle than I had originally thought?_ She thought furiously. She was not prepared to be defeated here, and definitely not against terrorists.

Just then, a familiar voice sounded across the channel. " _You seem to be in quite the predicament, Princess Cornelia. Outnumbered, the majority of your Royal Guard trapped beneath all that rubble, your reinforcements distracted. Not much of a victory for the Goddess of Victory._ "

 _Zero!_ "You're here?" Cornelia demanded.

" _I've been here the entire time. The Black Knights defend the innocent, remember? Surely you didn't think I was just saying that to hear myself talk, did you?_ " Zero sounded amused.

Cornelia's hand clenched into a fist in fury. "You bastard," she snarled. Zero had outplayed her. She could see that now. He had taken her by surprise and she realized it was because she hadn't thought much about Zero's words at Lake Kawaguchi and he knew it. Not only that but…

"You joined forces with the Yamato Alliance," Cornelia realized.

" _They joined me,_ " Zero said. " _But that's another matter. For now, I do believe you've lost this battle._ "

Cornelia scowled because she knew that he was right. If he wanted, he could take her and her knight out before the purists or Kururugi had a chance to intervene. Even if she could take a few with her, she was still badly outnumbered.

Guilford had moved to stand protectively in front of her, she noticed, and she appreciated the gesture. "So what now? Are you going to kill me like you did Clovis?" she demanded.

" _Lelouch and Nunnally would be very put-out with me if I did._ "

The Goddess of Victory froze and her indigo eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?" she demanded.

" _Do you really wish to know? If so, then agree to leave the Saitama Ghetto, and all of its civilians, alone. The civilians had nothing to do with the Yamato Alliance and, on that note, the Yamato Alliance had nothing to do with that attack on the edge of the settlement,_ " Zero said.

Cornelia gritted her teeth. This man had mentioned the names of two of her siblings that she thought had died when Britannia invaded Japan almost seven years ago and spoke as if they were still alive. She didn't know if he was doing so to mess with her or not but something told her that he was telling the truth. After all, how else would this terrorist even know about Lelouch and Nunnally? They had been children and hadn't been revealed to the public yet when they were exiled.

"What do you know about my siblings?" she demanded.

" _Do you agree?_ "

Scowling, Cornelia growled, "I have no choice but to. Now what do you know?!"

" _They're alive,_ " Zero said.

"And how do I know you're telling the truth?"

" _I am honorable just like you, Princess Cornelia. I swear on my honor that what I say is true. Lelouch and Nunnally vi Britannia are alive and well,_ " Zero said sincerely.

Cornelia couldn't deny it. She could hear the sincerity in Zero's voice and, being honorable herself, she knew that swearing on one's honor was big. But what she couldn't figure out was why Zero was telling her this. And how did he even know Lelouch and Nunnally?

"How do you know Lelouch and Nunnally?" she demanded.

" _Perhaps, someday, I will tell you but, for now, it is better if everyone believes they are dead. After all, the people who killed their mother may come back for them,_ " Zero said nonchalantly. " _Especially considering it was someone their mother trusted._ "

Cornelia frowned. "How do you know that?" She demanded and, when Zero didn't answer, she added, "Answer me, Zero! What do you know about Lady Marianne's death?"

" _Someday, I will tell you,_ " Zero said and cut off the transmission.

"Damnit!" Cornelia slammed her fist into the console. She knew that she couldn't exactly believe that Zero was telling the truth but she couldn't find it in herself to doubt his words; they were sincere and she knew that he was right. The person who murdered Lady Marianne had to be someone she trusted; why else would she ask Cornelia to withdraw herself and the rest of the security detail the day she was assassinated? She only did that when she was meeting with someone she trusted.

Cornelia had tried to investigate her idol's murder but hadn't gotten very far when her father ordered her to stop the investigation. She wanted to keep looking but knew better than to ignore a direct order from the Emperor. Instead, she focused on keeping updated on her younger half-siblings' wellbeing. That was until she was told that they had died during the invasion.

And yet Zero not only was saying that they were alive but seemed to know something about Lady Marianne's death.

Cornelia closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. _Lelouch and Nunnally are still alive. Of that, I'm almost positive but…I need proof, a confirmation. I need to know whether they really are alive or if Zero is just messing with me. While he may seem sincere, I just have to know for sure,_ she thought.

But, for now…

"Guilford, gather the wounded from that pit. We're leaving," she said.

" _Princess?_ " Guilford sounded surprised.

"We've lost this battle, Guilford, but we will not lose the war," Cornelia said firmly. Even if it was a bitter pill to swallow that she, the Goddess of Victory, had been defeated, she was going to take her defeat gracefully. She would just have to be stronger and better than before if she wanted to take out Zero.

 **. . .**

Satoru watched as the injured Royal Guard were extracted from the pit the collapsed tunnels had created. While they were badly injured, none of them had been killed— _unfortunately_ —but Satoru, along with everyone else, had been ordered to stand down and let Cornelia and her shattered forces retreat.

He didn't agree. He wanted to take out Cornelia and her forces and he wondered if it was because Lelouch still cared about Cornelia since she was his half-sister. He said he hated Britannia and it was clear that he hated his father but Satoru had to wonder if that hatred extended to his half-siblings as well.

" _We beat the Witch of Britannia! HELL YEAH!_ " Hikari shouted over the channel.

" _Wow. It's an amazing feeling,"_ Masaki said quietly.

 _"We really did it? We actually did it!"_ Itsuki said and Satoru could imagine him grinning broadly in the cockpit of his Glasgow.

He smiled. While Cornelia and her Royal Guard may still be alive, he couldn't deny feeling accomplished that he was part of the battle that broke the Goddess of Victory's streak of wins. And Zero had led them to that victory.

 _Exiled Britannian prince or not, he is still brilliant,_ he thought, leaning back into his seat and something fell out of the pocket of his uniform.

Looking down, he reached out and picked it up, revealing it to be the card that Lilith had given him. He studied the number and glanced toward where Cornelia's forces were hastily making a retreat, the purist faction and the white knightmare guarding their back in case the Black Knights decided to attack and found himself thinking.

 _Would Lilith and the P.U.A.B. have attacked while they were retreating?_ He wondered. Based on what he had heard about them, from the news and from Lilith herself, he suspected that was the case.

He didn't want to kill innocents and, while he did harbor hatred toward Britannians, he was conflicted on whether or not that hatred extended to the innocents who had nothing to do with the invasion or the military that treated him and other Japanese like trash. He closed his eyes and stuffed the number back into his uniform's pocket and decided not to think about it right now.

Right now, he would just revel in their victory.

 **. . .**

Emperor Charles zi Britannia regarded his second eldest son whom was kneeling in front of him, head lowered. "Cornelia has been having quite a bit of trouble in Area 11," he mused. "First, her attempt to draw out the terrorist Zero backfired, then she actually let Zero take charge at Lake Kawaguchi, and now this humiliating defeat?" He smirked. "It would appear Zero is much more troublesome than I had originally thought."

"What will be done, Your Majesty?" Schneizel el Britannia asked.

Charles took on a thoughtful look. "It would appear that Cornelia cannot solve this matter on her own. Therefore, I will send her some help," he said.

Schneizel knew that this wasn't done out of the goodness of his heart, if Charles even had any goodness in his heart, it was done as a way of humiliating and punishing Cornelia further.

Personally, Schneizel didn't really care for Area 11, mostly because of the deaths of two of his younger half-siblings, Lelouch and Nunnally. Nunnally had always been a sweetheart and Lelouch was a genius. Schneizel enjoyed the times that he spent playing chess with his younger half-brother, even if Lelouch has never been able to beat him. He did care for Lelouch and Nunnally, not that he would ever admit it out loud, and had been upset—though not nearly as upset as Cornelia and Euphie—when he learned about their deaths.

That being said, the problem in Area 11 seemed to be getting out of control and Zero was starting to become a dangerous enemy.

"Who do you plan on sending?" Schneizel asked.

Charles pressed his lips together and smirked, gesturing toward a guard to join him.

"Your Majesty?" the guard said.

"Send for Sir Weinberg and Lady Alstreim immediately," Charles ordered.

"Yes, Your Majesty," the guard said, saluting and hurrying out of the room.

 _So he's sending the Knight of Three and the Knight of Six?_ Schneizel thought. It was odd; he hadn't expected the Emperor to send the two youngest Knights of the Round to Area 11, especially considering Gino Weinberg had just become a Knight of the Round a few weeks ago, but figured that the Emperor had a reason. He always did.

"You had something to report, Schneizel?" Charles asked, reminding Schneizel why he was there.

"Yes, Your Majesty. It would appear that the P.U.A.B. have mobilized again and launched an attack in Area 9. They are getting stronger and seem to be rallying local cells in each of the Areas they strike to their cause," Schneizel reported.

"And?"

"I believe they are planning on striking at Pendragon soon."

"Then I will leave you to deal with that mundane matter, Schneizel. You are dismissed," Charles said.

 _Mundane?_ Schneizel pressed his lips together but said nothing as he said, "Yes, Your Majesty," and stood up, striding out of the throne room and inclining his head in greeting to the Knight of Three and Knight of Six as they arrived at the throne room.

 _He is slipping further away and becoming much more distant. It would appear that the time is quickly coming where I can put my plan into motion,_ Schneizel thought.

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Blaze: planning battles or skirmishes (personally, I think this is more of a skirmish than a battle, which is why I changed the title) is hard. It took me weeks, if not a few _months,_ to come up with both the strategy and counter-strategy for a specific battle in RotBK after all.**

 **Luciano: heh, you suck!**

 **Lelouch: (pulls out duel disk and summons Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon)**

 **Dark Rebellion: RAWR**

 **Luciano: (Takes off running)**

 **Lelouch: (cackles insanely, jumps onto Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, and flies rapidly after Luciano)**

 **Charles: well, at least he's not chasing me**

 **Suzaku: Lelouch asked me to take care of you since he called dibs on taking care of Luciano this time (pulls out his own duel disk and summons Clear Wing Synchro Dragon**

 **Clear Wing: RAWR**

 **Charles: (takes off running)**

 **Suzaku: thanks for the duel disk, Jeremiah! (Jumps onto Clear Wing Synchro Dragon and flies rapidly after Charles)**

 **Jeremiah: you are welcome, Knight of Zero**

 **V.V.: why is he running?**

 **Jeremiah: (glares at V.V.) as for me (pulls out his own duel disk and summons Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon)**

 **Odd-Eyes: RAWR**

 **V.V.: I'm going to run now (takes off running)**

 **Jeremiah: (jumps onto Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and chases after V.V.)**

 **Kallen: okay then. So you have three dragons going after the three characters you hate the most?**

 **Blaze: actually, there's one more (hands Kallen a duel disk and a card) she should be showing up any time now. Please take care of her, Kallen**

 **Marianne: where's Charles?**

 **Kallen: ahhh, I see, that bitch. Hello, bitch, say 'ello to my little friend (activates duel disk and summons Starve Venom Fusion Dragon)**

 **Starve Venom: RAWR**

 **Marianne: (stares at Blaze) WHY DO YOU HATE ME?!**

 **Blaze: (points to Turn 21) That is all I have to say. Kallen?**

 **Kallen: with pleasure (leaps onto Starve Venom Fusion Dragon and flies rapidly at Marianne)**

 **Marianne: (screams and takes off running)**

 **Blaze: and now that I have taken care of the four characters I hate the most from _Code Geass,_ for now, I will end this long note. I hope that you enjoyed it and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**


	13. Stage 13: Knights of the Round

**Whoa. 13 people reviewed the last chapter? Awesome!**

 **Anyway, this chapter was a bitch to write and edit and I'm still not completely satisfied with it. I get this odd feeling this is one of those chapters I'm never gonna feel satisfied with. Still, I hope you like it.**

 **Anyway, thank you to _SpheresOfLonging, Shadow-Shinobi666, Fai's smile, Determined Savior, TokusatsuLuv, bob115, sith3p, matronium, patrickthenobleman, Risembool Ranger8, ewertondragon, neostardustdragon101,_ and _Shimmering-Sky_ for reviewing the last chapter. You guys are awesome!**

 _ **SpheresOfLonging:** Kallen and Lelouch's relationship isn't central to the plot so there won't be any fluff chapters. There will be upcoming fluff moments, such as in Stage 27, but no fluff chapters. It will detract from the plot, unfortunately. And the Student Council...I've gotta look at the upcoming chapters but I believe that we do get a look into their perspective, thought not about Lelouch and Kallen's relationship. Thank you for your review._

 **Anyway, this is a short chapter. The next chapter was, originally, 25 pages single-spaced and, since I made my cutoff limit for chapter lengths at 24 pages single-spaced (and I can't delete anything to condense it to 24 pages), the next chapter will be split into two chapters.**

 **I hope that you enjoy this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**

 **. . .**

 _He heard Nunnally speaking with Gino a few days before her coronation. Since he was supposed to protect her, as per Lelouch's final orders, he was with her almost at all times. Gino had taken up his position as part of Nunnally's Royal Guard while Anya had gone with Jeremiah to live on an orange farm, though he knew that Gino still missed her._

 _"...want to visit Big Brother's grave later today. I want to replace the flowers that are already there. Zero will go with me. Just tell the rest of my guard and Sister Cornelia and Brother Schneizel where I've gone should they ask so they don't worry," Nunnally was saying._

 _"Sure thing, Your Majesty," Gino said with a bow. Unlike the others whom would always question why Nunnally was visiting the grave of the deceased Demon Emperor when she told them that was where she was going, Gino didn't question it._

 _He always wondered why._

 _"Thank you," Nunnally said._

 _"You're welcome," Gino said._

 _"Can I ask you something though, Sir Weinberg?"_

 _"Of course, Your Majesty."_

 _"Why don't you question me when I tell you I'm going to visit my Big Brother?" Nunnally asked, bluish-purple eyes questioning._

 _"'Cause it don't matter what he did when he was Emperor, he's still your brother, he's still your family, and I know ya still love him. That ain't never gonna change so who am I to stop you from visiting the grave of someone you love?" Gino said simply._

 _Nunnally smiled. "Thank you, for being so understanding, Sir Weinberg," she said softly._

 _"It's just Gino, Your Majesty, and you're welcome."_

 _Nunnally's smile brightened. "Then call me Nunnally, Gino," she said._

 _"Sure thing!"_

 _Even if Gino didn't approve of what Lelouch did as the Demon Emperor, the young masked man realized that he understood what the others failed to understand. The bonds of family run deep and, while they could be broken beyond repair, there was no denying that the bonds Nunnally held for her family, including her late elder brother, were just as strong now as they were when they were created._

 **. . .**

 **Stage 13**

 **Knights of the Round**

Satoru walked down the street of the Saitama Ghetto, heading toward his house. He had been meaning on visiting his parents after the Second Battle of Saitama since he hadn't been able to see his parents before the battle since he was too busy fighting Cornelia's forces. He just wanted to make sure that they were all right.

Reaching the house, he knocked on the door and it opened to reveal his mother who gasped. "Satoru!" She exclaimed and immediately drew Satoru into a bone-crushing hug.

"Mom…can't…breathe…" Satoru managed to gasp out.

His mother released him with a small smile. "Your father and I have been worried about you," she said, stepping aside to allow Satoru into the house. "You've been gone for so long! You're only fifteen, Satoru. You shouldn't be off on your own."

"I'm fine, Mom," Satoru assured him.

His mother sighed. "Well, at least I was able to see both of my children today," she mused.

"Both?"

"Yeah, Kenji's with your father in the kitchen," his mother said with a smile before she turned toward the kitchen, not noticing how Satoru had tensed at the mention of his big brother, and called out, "Dear, Kenji, Satoru's here."

His father entered the living room, wiping his hands on a cloth while Kenji followed suit. Kenji hadn't changed much since Satoru had last seen him; he was still dressed in the clothing given to him by the military. He paused when he saw Satoru. "Satoru," he greeted with a smile.

"Kenji," Satoru replied icily. The memory of their last talk was still fresh in Satoru's mind, along with the emotions he had felt during it.

Kenji sighed. "I've missed you, baby brother," he said.

"Not my fault," Satoru said coolly. "You visit home even less than I do, too busy playing dog to Britannia."

"Satoru!" his mother exclaimed.

"I don't want to fight with you," Kenji said. "It really is good to see you after so long, baby brother."

"Hmph." Satoru may care for his brother but that didn't mean he had accepted his big brother's decision and he never would. The only good thing, now that they were enemies, was that Honorary Britannians were less likely to actually be part of a battle against the Black Knights simply because Cornelia didn't like having them fight.

His mother glanced between the two of them, feeling the icy tension that existed almost tangibly in the air around them. "Why don't I make you something to eat?" she suggested with a smile. "Have you eaten yet?"

"I just ate before I left the barracks. Sorry," Kenji said apologetically.

"I had a quick breakfast before I came here," Satoru replied.

"Oh." His mother sounded disappointed and Satoru winced.

"Umm, but it was a really light breakfast and an omelet sounds good," he added quickly.

"Yeah, same here," Kenji said.

His mother brightened. "I'll go make them right away," she said and darted off.

"I'm going to head off to meet up with Kimiko and see about getting some more food for the house," his father said. Kimiko was one of his parents' newest friends. He then glanced at Satoru and Kenji. "Satoru, Kenji, try to get along and try _not_ to get into a fight again."

"Yes, Dad," the brothers responded and their father left the house.

While their mother cooked in the kitchen, filling the house with the smell of cooking eggs, Satoru and Kenji stood across from each other in silence, trying to figure out something to say that wouldn't bring them back to the reason _why_ they had gotten into a fight the last time they talked.

Neither of them could figure out anything to say. They had been separated for several months, with Satoru working with the Yamato Alliance and Kenji finishing up basic training, and it just seemed as if they were strangers to each other.

"So, do you have a girlfriend yet?" Kenji asked.

Satoru sputtered. "What?" he said surprised.

"Just coming up with something to talk about," Kenji said with a shrug. "So do you?"

Satoru huffed, folding his arms across his chest. "Do you?" he asked.

"Unfortunately no," Kenji said.

"Yeah, me neither. Made some good friends though," Satoru said.

"That's good," Kenji said.

They fell into an awkward silence again.

"I think I'm going to check out my old room," Satoru said finally.

"Yeah, me too. I'm getting bored," Kenji said.

"You get bored too easily," Satoru noted.

"It made basic training a nightmare honestly," his brother admitted, leading the way down the hallway toward their room, not noticing the way Satoru tensed at the reminder of where his brother's allegiances lay.

With the monsters who destroyed his country and killed his family.

That feeling of hate for Britannia welled up again and Satoru shoved it aside. Hating Britannia was one thing, hating his brother for serving Britannia was another thing entirely; Satoru just couldn't find it in himself to hate his brother for his decision. Disappointed in him, yes, angry with him, yes, but hate him? No. Satoru could not hate one of the only members of his family that he had left.

After exploring the old room that they had shared in the years between the end of the invasion and when Kenji went off to basic training and Satoru joined the Yamato Alliance, they were called into the kitchen for breakfast.

His mother was quick to talk with them, asking Kenji how the military was; though she didn't exactly approve of Kenji's decision, she hadn't tried to stop him, and asking Satoru just what he had been up to. Satoru didn't respond; he was a teenager so his mother could take his silence as teenage rebellion or whatever. It wasn't as if he could respond; the last thing he wanted was for his brother and his mother to know about him being part of the Black Knights.

But it was a rather relaxing morning. Satoru may not visit his family as often as he probably should but the times he did were memorable, even if they were simple and nothing interesting happened. It was just the fact that he was able to see his parents, alive and well, that was enough for him to make the visit memorable.

 **. . .**

Suzaku yawned as he crawled out of his bed and shuffled toward the bathroom. Five days had gone by since the Second Battle of Saitama. Lelouch and the Black Knights continued their quest in standing up for the innocent, though they did so on a smaller scale, probably because Cornelia was now actively hunting them. That meant that many of them were laying low for the time being.

With Narita only three days away, that was probably for the best. Suzaku had to wonder just how Lelouch planned on preventing the tragedy that occurred at Narita. If he recalled correctly, it was because of the Radiant Wave Surger in Kallen's new _Guren Mk-II_ that the landslide had occurred. And yet the landslide had been the reason why Lelouch was able to hold his own against Cornelia's forces before Tohdoh and the Four Holy Swords joined in the fight.

There was also the fact that Lelouch no longer needed to capture Cornelia since he already knew who murdered his mother, and didn't really care after learning that his mother had been in league with Emperor Charles since the beginning. Even Suzaku didn't really care for Marianne vi Britannia after what he learned in the World of C.

Still…

He did find it amusing that it would appear his rivalry against Kallen was, apparently, destined to happen since it had happened in this timeline as well.

 _At one point, I didn't believe in destiny or fate. Now look at me,_ he thought in amusement. Then again, he didn't believe in supernatural abilities either and now he had one himself and Lelouch had one as well.

Speaking of that, Suzaku hadn't really had a chance to use his Geass recently, nor had he had a chance to talk to Lelouch about it since he knew that Lelouch was curious, and he figured he might as well get it over with.

He was, admittedly, curious to know what Lelouch's number was. If he counted the number of days correctly, the Zero Requiem was a little less than six hundred days away. _It seems like a long time and yet it went by so quickly last time,_ he thought.

He supposed that if the number above Lelouch's head was the same as the number of days until the Zero Requiem then it might mean that the Zero Requiem would end up happening. Of course, with how much that has changed since he was sent to the past, there was no telling if the old timeline was entirely reliable anymore.

He frowned. So far, everything that happened last time was occurring at the same times as they had in the old timeline, just with different outcomes and some new events tossed into the mix. But he would keep that in mind. He had a feeling that, eventually, there will come a time when the changes he and Lelouch have made would change the future so much that they won't be able to rely on their memories of the old timeline anymore.

He also decided that he would check the numbers of the other student council members again. Nina's would be around _13_ unless something happened to change her fate but he wasn't sure about the others. All their numbers had been high when he last checked them but they could have changed since then.

Speaking of the student council, Suzaku then noticed the time and realized he only had an hour to get to school.

He quickly got ready and left his room with backpack in hand, saying goodbye to Cecile when he walked past her and heading toward Ashford Academy in the distance. He always left an hour early because it was a good half hour walk if he was lucky and Suzaku didn't like being late.

Increasing his speed in an attempt to get to school on time, he was unprepared for the sudden bluenette that had been rounding around the corner at the same time as him. With a grunt, both of them ended up on the ground.

"Sorry," Suzaku said quickly, scrambling off the familiar form of Kenji who sat up, rubbing his head.

"It's fine. Man, we just keep running into each other, eh?" Kenji said with a smile.

"Well, not literally before today," Suzaku said with a small smile. "What brings you to the settlement so early in the morning?"

"I think my division has made me their permanent food delivery boy," Kenji said with a grimace. "And I don't even get paid for it."

Suzaku chuckled.

"But at least I get something to do. Akio and Ken, two of my bunkmates, are probably getting as stir crazy as I am with barely anything to do," Kenji added. "Though I'm worse, apparently. It gets to the point that Akio and Ken _literally_ kick me out of the barracks and tell me to track down our commander and get _something_ to do, even if it's just getting food that doesn't suck."

"Well, you've always been unable to sit still or do nothing, even during basic training," Suzaku noted.

"It's a wonder I actually graduated, though I think our drill sergeant was just trying to get rid of me."

Suzaku chuckled. It was nice talking with Kenji again. They had gotten along great during basic training and had been lucky enough to be assigned to the same division before they were chosen for that mission into the Shinjuku Ghetto. Unfortunately, Suzaku never really got to know too much about Kenji in the old timeline; then, he had been killed during the Shinjuku Massacre. And, while Suzaku was able to talk more with Kenji since he had survived this time, he still didn't know much about him.

"Speaking of doing nothing, I really wish we could do something to help," Kenji sighed. "Like against those Black Knights. I mean, they mean well and all but to actively go against Britannia?" He shook his head. Unlike the idealistic fool that Suzaku had once been early in the old timeline, Kenji had been more of a realist. Suzaku had thought at the time that Britannia could be changed from within. Kenji understood just what Britannia was like but thought that it was better to serve Britannia then to go against them because if he were to go against them, he would put his entire family on the line, and he wasn't content with just living beneath the radar like his parents. He never spoke about his family often and always sounded incredibly sad whenever he mentioned them.

Unlike Suzaku, who had nothing left to lose by joining the Britannian Army—his family disowned him and he had killed his own father—Kenji had _everything_ to lose and was not about to put their lives on the line.

"I'm worried about my family with these Black Knights running around," Kenji added with a sigh.

"Zero did say at Lake Kawaguchi that they would only fight to protect the innocent," Suzaku pointed out.

"Yeah? But how long before that changes? They may be working towards protecting the innocent and fighting against injustice but they are also actively going against Britannia, they are actively _provoking_ Britannia. And if they gain enough power and enough attention then Britannia _will_ retaliate." Kenji closed his eyes. "I don't want Area 11 to have to suffer through the same devastation as it had during the invasion."

 _Neither do I._ Memories of the .I.J.A. incident flashed through Suzaku's mind and he shoved it away.

"Besides, isn't there that old saying: absolute power corrupts absolutely? If they do gain power, whether they are seeking it or not, then who's to say that it won't corrupt them?"

"You do raise a good point," Suzaku said and he did. Suzaku had seen firsthand just what could happen when someone obtained absolute power; the Damocles and Schneizel and the F.L.E.I.J.A. came to mind. If he was being truly honest with himself though, Lelouch was probably the only one who did not _completely_ succumb to corruption due to the absolute power he had been given due to his Geass and when he took the throne. That was probably only because of the two of them actively working on the Zero Requiem and because he had an actual _goal,_ a goal that _drove_ him. Lelouch may have acted like a heartless, tyrannical dictator when he was Emperor but that had all been part of the plan, a plan to create a peaceful, safer, gentler world, a chance for the world to start rebuilding.

"By the way, where were you heading in such a hurry?" Kenji asked.

Suzaku blinked and then cursed inwardly as he realized he had spent a good ten minutes talking with his friend and now he was going to be late. "Damnit! I'm late. I gotta go, Kenji. Nice talking with you," he said and darted past Kenji, running toward the academy in the distance.

 **. . .**

Kenji watched as Suzaku darted off, heading in the direction that he knew Ashford Academy lay. He frowned to himself. He wondered just what Suzaku was doing there; while it wasn't against the law for Numbers to attend school, attending a prestigious school like Ashford Academy, in which the student population was about ninety-nine percent Britannian, was something they didn't do, even if they were Honorary Britannians.

He shook his head and turned around, looking for that restaurant his commander had told him to get their breakfast from. As he walked toward the restaurant once he spotted it, Kenji's thoughts drifted to his words to his friend. Suzaku hadn't sounded like he was defending the Black Knights when he spoke about what happened at Kawaguchi—and Kenji again felt that kernel of jealousy at the thought that _Suzaku_ got to be at Kawaguchi whereas _Kenji_ was stuck doing nothing with his division, especially when they were both Honorary Britannians and weren't much different skill-wise—but he had to wonder just why he would point that out.

It didn't matter if the Black Knights were protecting the innocent and fighting injustice, as they said they would, it mattered that, as Kenji had told Suzaku, they were _provoking_ the Holy Britannian Empire and Kenji feared what would happen when the Empire struck back.

Memories of the airstrikes that leveled Tokyo seven years ago flashed through Kenji's mind. The explosions, the trembling ground, the screams of those unfortunate enough to get caught in the attack. Kenji remembered watching terrified Elevens running away from the flames of buildings caught in the first wave of bombs. He remembered holding his younger brother Satoru close to him while he cried in terror. He remembered his mother and father shouting at them to get to the cellar. He remembered them just barely getting in there when a bomb took out their original home. He remembered spending days within that cellar, with little food and water, while they waited for the invasion to end, his parents risking their lives to leave the cellar to find him and Satoru food to eat and water to drink while the invasion was still going on.

They had nearly gotten killed and Kenji feared that they might not be as lucky if Britannia lashed out after being provoked.

Corner a rat and they attack and Britannia was much more powerful than a rat.

Entering the restaurant, Kenji was quick to place the orders of his commander and his bunkmates and then took a seat at a nearby table while he waited for his order to be fulfilled. Once again, his thoughts drifted.

Even after having suffered through the invasion, Kenji still refused to go against Britannia, something that his younger brother just didn't understand. While his younger brother was incredibly naïve in some aspects, he truly believed that the Elevens should fight back. Kenji, on the other hand, was older and knew just how fruitless that struggle would be and just how much danger anyone associated with those Elevens who fought back would be in. On the other hand, Satoru didn't think about anyone else, he only thought about his desire for vengeance.

Kenji wasn't blind. He knew that Satoru hated Britannia with a passion, blaming them for the deaths of their family and friends during the invasion, and wanting to avenge their deaths. That burning desire for vengeance was what drove him and was what made Kenji worry about him constantly; ever since they were little, Satoru had always been one to hold grudges. He would just let it fester and grow stronger.

Kenji was afraid that Satoru's hatred and grudge against Britannia had grown so strong that it threw his common sense out the window.

"Order for Kenji Sato," the cashier called and Kenji stood up, walking over to join the cashier, noticing that a pink-haired girl had walked into the restaurant at that moment, typing on something on her phone.

She glanced at him with quiet light pink eyes but said nothing as she took a seat next to the counter.

Kenji, himself, was in shock. He knew this person. Anya Alstreim. The Knight of Six.

 _What is a Knight of the Round doing here?_ He thought.

He winced when a flash of light erupted in front of his eyes and blinked, rubbing them as Alstreim lowered her camera phone, uttering a soft, "recorded," and then returning to her typing.

Flushing as he realized he had been staring openly at a Knight of the Round, Kenji was quick to apologize.

She waved it away dismissively but didn't say anything.

"Yo! Anya! Where'd you run off too?" Another voice sounded and Kenji turned to find a tall, muscular young man with blonde hair draping over his shoulders in braids and bright blue eyes. Kenji recognized him as well: Gino Weinberg, the Knight of Three.

Everyone knew about the legendary Knights of the Round, the best of the best that were loyal only to the Emperor. To become a Knight of the Round was one of Kenji's extremely unattainable dreams; he would never be able to achieve that level of prestige simply because he was a Number and Numbers would be lucky if they were promoted out of Private, like Suzaku Kururugi had been.

"Got hungry," Alstreim said, typing at her phone and then looking at Kenji. "What would you recommend?"

He blinked, surprised that she would actually ask _his_ opinion. It was obvious that he was an Eleven, Honorary Britannian status aside. "Um…"

Weinberg laughed. "You gotta learn how to articulate your words," he said, though he was grinning broadly.

"We are surprising him," Alstreim said nonchalantly. "Possibly because we are speaking to him like a person rather than a Number."

"Ahh, that whole thing. Eh, I don't really care if you're a Number or not," Weinberg said with a shrug. "So what would ya recommend?"

Kenji decided to just go with what he had ordered for his bunkmates.

"Sounds good enough for me," Weinberg said, plopping down in the seat next to Alstreim while Kenji picked up the take-out bag and started for the door. "Oh, hey, wait, I didn't get your name."

"Oh, I'm Kenji Sato, my Lord," Kenji said.

"None of that 'my Lord' business," Weinberg said, waving a hand dismissively. "I'm Gino and this is Anya. Nice meeting you."

"You as well." And it was nice meeting the two Knights of the Round and not being on the receiving end of the cruel insults that most Britannians always spewed at him. Weinberg was different but Kenji found that he was grateful that he didn't treat him like trash simply because he was a Number.

 **. . .**

"He's an interesting person," Anya said, sipping at her glass of water and using her phone to snap pictures of the various paintings and photographs on the wall of the restaurant.

"Who? That Kenji guy?" Gino asked, glancing at her curiously. "How'd you figure that?"

"Looked him up," Anya said simply. "He's an Honorary Britannian but it says that he scored the second highest score in the Knightmare stimulation test during basic training, second only to an Honorary Britannian named Suzaku Kururugi."

Gino whistled. "Man. That means he's probably one hell of a pilot. Shame we can't see it for sure ourselves," he said.

"Yeah."

"So why'd you look him up anyway? Are ya crushing on him?"

"No," Anya deadpanned. "He reminded me of…someone…but I'm not entirely sure who. I feel I've met him, or someone like him, before but…I don't know why."

Gino fell silent, blinking sympathetically at Anya. For more than seven years, Anya had been subjected to some memory loss. It hadn't been as often when she was a child but, recently, it seemed to occur as much as three times a week. Gino had met Anya at the Academy; they had studied together, trained together, and graduated together, despite Anya being two years his junior. Anya had been made a Knight of the Round months before Gino, who had only been knighted a few weeks ago, but they had maintained their friendship. He was the only one who knew about her frequent memory lapses.

"Well, I dunno 'bout you but I wanna see him in action in a real Knightmare frame," Gino said, changing the subject back to what Anya had originally brought up. He knew that Anya didn't like having frequent memory lapses and always grew a bit upset when they happened so he always tried to steer away from those topics whenever conversation drifted toward them.

Anya said nothing, just turned to her food as it arrived, snapping a picture of it, putting her phone away, and tasting the food tentatively. Gino also started eating, thoughtful. "Hmm, maybe I can ask Princess Cornelia to let him pilot a Sutherland or something," he said.

"Doubt she will agree."

"Truuuuueeee but it won't hurt to ask."

 **. . .**

Lelouch yawned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he gazed at the teacher. He wasn't paying attention, but then he rarely ever did, but this time it was because he hadn't gotten much sleep last night. It has been a long time since Lelouch actually had a nightmare that was powerful enough to keep him awake for hours but then usually Lelouch's dreams weren't about a future that could still come to pass.

His head was also hurting. It seemed to hurt a bit whenever he thought about the memories from that other timeline. Mostly, he would just mentally glance at them to remind himself of what was coming up next and the outcome and any other important information. He didn't view them in their entirety; whenever he did, that was when the headaches would strike.

It had been particularly bad last night when his dreams had been filled with memories of the destruction of the Tokyo Settlement due to the .I.J.A. and the utter despair he had felt when he thought his little sister had been caught in the explosion. He had woken up barely stopping himself from screaming and with a throbbing headache that had yet to go away.

C.C. had actually tried to comfort him to get him to go back to sleep but, with his head throbbing as painfully as it still was, he hadn't been able to get more than maybe three hours of sleep. He hadn't yet told C.C. about what Bree's Geass had done to him because of said memories; according to them, C.C. was connected telepathically with Marianne vi Britannia and the last thing Lelouch wanted to risk was Marianne—he refused to call her his mother—learning that he knew more than he was supposed to.

Rubbing his head, Lelouch noticed that Suzaku was actually absent. He blinked, wondering where his friend was but his answer came a moment later when an exhausted-looking Suzaku walked in at the very beginning of their first class after homeroom. He wandered past the chairs and flopped into the seat beside Lelouch.

"You look like you just ran a marathon five times. What happened to the 'exercise nut'?" Lelouch asked casually.

"You try running two miles, trying to get through large crowds of people, and nearly getting run over by traffic and not feel exhausted at the end," Suzaku huffed, pressing his forehead into his desk. "Why is it that mornings is when the crazy drivers come out?"

Lelouch chuckled. "Was that why you didn't make it to homeroom?" he asked.

"That and I ran into an old friend from the military. We got to talking and lost track of time," Suzaku admitted, lifting his head off his desk. "By the way, later, we need to talk."

Lelouch nodded and returned his attention to the front of the classroom.

During lunch, Lelouch and Suzaku once again found themselves on the roof of the school building. Lelouch was leaning on his side against the railing, studying Suzaku who was looking out at the city below. "So what did you want to talk about?" he asked.

"My Geass," Suzaku said, turning to gaze at him. "You've been wanting to know about it, right?"

"Yes, but I suppose I didn't think you would actually tell me," Lelouch said. That had been a thought that had briefly crossed his mind whenever he thought about questioning Suzaku about his Geass.

"I know about yours and about you being Zero. It's only fair that you know about me being a time traveler and about my Geass," Suzaku said. "It's called Absolute Fate and it's just an informational Geass. It shows me the number of days someone has left to live and, on the day that their number is zero so long as I know them or have seen their number before, I get a vision of how they will die."

"And then what?" Lelouch asked.

"Well, that's it for the Geass. Then I try to prevent my vision from coming true. So far, it's only happened once," Suzaku said and explained about how he had prevented Shirley from getting hit by a car during the first Battle of the Saitama Ghetto.

"Who gave it to you?" Lelouch asked.

"The Divine, the same person, er entity, that sent me back in time," Suzaku said and then studied Lelouch who was thinking about the information. Suzaku's left eye suddenly started glowing with the red bird-like sigil of Geass around its pupil. He looked up above Lelouch's head and sighed, the Geass-symbol fading.

"What? Did you see my number?" Lelouch asked curiously.

"Yeah…"

"What is it?"

Suzaku raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Would I have asked you if I didn't?" Lelouch asked dryly.

Suzaku hesitated. "…595," he said finally.

Lelouch did the math in his head, lips turned in a frown. "If the Zero Requiem occurs this time as it had in that other timeline then that day would be the very day the Zero Requiem is fulfilled," he realized.

"I don't know if this means that the Zero Requiem will still happen or not," Suzaku admitted.

"Neither do I but we can change that," Lelouch said. "I'll find some way to accomplish our goals without having to resort to the Zero Requiem. I made a promise to Nunnally, that I wouldn't be going anywhere and I don't want to break any of my promises…not again." He closed his eyes at the pain of how his actions in that other timeline had driven him away from the little sister he was trying so hard to protect. Everything he had done had been for her and yet those actions had driven a wedge between them that was only removed at the moment of his death in the old timeline. He winced, his head throbbing as it always did whenever he thought about those memories.

"We'll figure something out, Lelouch," Suzaku said softly. "I…don't want to have to go through with the Zero Requiem again either. For now, shouldn't we be thinking about Narita?"

"I'm still running through ideas for Narita," Lelouch said thoughtfully. "Evacuating the city would be the simplest idea but that might raise Cornelia's suspicions and there's no telling if they would be willing to listen without me resorting to using my Geass."

"Is there any way to make the landslide not as powerful as it was in the old timeline?" Suzaku asked. "Like dial down the power of the Radiant Wave Surger or something?"

"I can see. I'm not an expert on Knightmare technology. Rakshata was the one who made the _Guren_. Hmm, maybe I could get into contact with her somehow," Lelouch murmured to himself.

The bell rang and Suzaku glanced up. "We should get to class," he said.

"I'll see you later at the student council meeting," Lelouch said, digging out his phone.

"You're skipping class again?"

"I have more important things to take care of."

Suzaku sighed but made no attempt to persuade Lelouch to go to class; it would be a fruitless pursuit and they both knew it. "I'll see you at the meeting," he said and left Lelouch alone on the roof.

 **. . .**

Suzaku stared, an uneasy feeling going through him. After classes had ended for the day and Suzaku had attended the Student Council Meeting, he had gone back to the A.S.E.E.C.'s base, only to find two people he hadn't thought he would see _this_ soon in the timeline there.

Gino Weinberg and Anya Alstreim.

The former had been Suzaku's closest friend among the Knights of the Round, even if he was prone to constantly giving Suzaku one-armed hugs whenever he had the chance, while the latter had also been a good friend. Both of them were skilled Knightmare pilots but there were two things wrong with this situation.

One, Anya Alstreim was currently the host of the soul of Marianne vi Britannia.

And two, they were both Knights of the Round.

 _What are they doing here?_ He thought.

"Oh, Suzaku, welcome back, how was school?" Cecile asked when she spotted Suzaku.

"It was good. What's going on?" Suzaku asked.

"So you're Suzaku?" Gino exclaimed, bounding over to join him, grinning broadly.

"Um, yeah?" Suzaku said, feigning confusion.

"Man, I heard ya got the highest score on the Knightmare stimulation and then got to pilot the first seventh-generation knightmare frame. That's awesome," Gino said with a bright smile.

"Gino, perhaps you should introduce yourself. You're confusing him," Anya said, not taking her eyes off the phone she was typing on.

"Oh, right, I'm Gino Weinberg, Knight of Three. This is Anya Alstreim, Knight of Six," Gino said, waving to himself and to Anya who looked up, snapped a picture of Suzaku with a murmured, "hello" and went back to her typing.

"The Emperor sent them here to help Viceroy Cornelia out," Lloyd said, sounding put-out.

"He's just upset that, with Sir Weinberg and Lady Alstreim here, it's unlikely that Cornelia will ever launch the _Lancelot_ in any upcoming engagements," Cecile explained.

"Well, I sure hope she does! I wanna see just what this badass mecha can do!" Gino said excitedly.

 _Gino hasn't changed,_ Suzaku mused but he knew he would have to warn Lelouch about this. His old friend was going to have to take into account the fact that Cornelia was not only going to have the _Lancelot_ at her disposal for the Battle of Narita but she will also have two Knights of the Round to aid her.

That was supposing they weren't given another set of orders from the Emperor.

Lloyd's eyes lit up. "Maybe you can convince Cornelia to let the _Lancelot_ join in any engagements we get into," he said brightly.

"I can try," Gino said with a shrug.

Gino and Anya left a couple of hours later, Gino promised to come by the next day because he still had questions about the _Lancelot_ , and Suzaku disappeared into his room, stating that he had homework he needed to do. At around a quarter after midnight, he deemed that the majority of the people on the base were probably asleep and pulled out his phone, dialing the number.

A groggy voice muttered, " _Zero_ " followed by a " _tell whoever the hell just called you this late that they are an asshole_ " that was followed by a tired " _shut up, witch_ " and a " _I'm trying to sleep. Get out of here_ " and then a _thud_ followed by a string of curse words.

"Sorry about the late-night call but I've got something that I felt you should know about," Suzaku said, lips quirking just a little bit at the exchange, once Lelouch left the bedroom and told him that he was alone.

" _What is it?_ " Lelouch asked around a yawn.

"The Emperor sent two of his Knights of the Round here," Suzaku said.

" _Which ones?_ " Lelouch asked, sounding more alert.

"Gino Weinberg and Anya Alstreim."

Lelouch swore. " _Damn it. Of all the Knights to choose, he chooses them? I thought Weinberg was only knighted five months before you_ ," he said softly.

"He had been, in the old timeline. That must have changed for some reason," Suzaku said. "I have no doubt that they'll be at Narita."

" _Agreed_ ," Lelouch said, sounding frustrated. " _This will alter my plans a bit for Narita. Dealing with you is one thing, dealing with two Knights of the Round at the same time is another thing entirely. I don't want to kill them though_." He yawned again and added, " _I will have to alter my plans a bit to incorporate this new threat_."

"All right. Goodnight," Suzaku said.

" _Goodnight_ ," Lelouch said and hung up. Suzaku rested the phone on his desk and rolled onto his back, gazing up at the ceiling. Narita was fast approaching, only two days away, and Suzaku had to wonder just what Lelouch was planning to do to prevent the number of causalities that occurred last time.

 **. . .**

 **A/n what do you think?**

 **Blaze: I'm sorry that this chapter isn't that great but I did my best. The convo between Gino and Anya plays a small part in what will happen in my version of R2 by the way**

 **Suzaku: so what's gonna happen in the next chapter?**

 **Kallen: next chapter is part one of Narita, isn't it?**

 **Blaze: yup**

 **Suzaku: where's Lelouch?**

 **Blaze: playing chess with Yami**

 **Yami: (moves knight forward) face it, you're no match for me**

 **Schneizel: (peering over Lelouch's shoulder at the chessboard) He does nearly have you outplayed, brother**

 **Lelouch: (picks up his knight) silence, bitch! The real fan-favorite is making his move!**

 **Schneizel: (raises eyebrow) real fan-favorite? (Lowers voice) Oh we'll see about that**

 **Lelouch: (moves knight) checkmate**

 **Yami: (stares at the board, which, indeed, was a checkmate)**

 **Bakura: the fucking Pharaoh...lost? (Burst into hysterical laughter)**

 **Yami: SHUT UP, BAKURA!**

 **Bakura: (stops laughing) no (starts laughing again)**

 **Suzaku: (sweatdrops and shakes head) anyway, Blaze doesn't own _Yu-Gi-Oh_ or _Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Abridged_ again and she hopes that you enjoyed this chapter and reviews, as always, are much appreciated.**


End file.
